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SANCTA SOPHIA
CONSTANTINOPLE

A work as they report surpassing every edifice in the world."

William of Malmesbury.

The fairest church in all the world."

Sir John Mandeville.

A marvellous and costful temple, clept St. Sophie."

Capgrave's Chronicle.

THE CHURCH OF
SANCTA SOPHIA
CONSTANTINOPLE
A STUDY OF BYZ-
ANTINE BUILDING
BY W. R. LETHABY &
HAROLD SWAINSON

1894

Macmillan & Co. London & New York

Richard Clay and Sons, Limited,
london and bungay.

THE bEiTy LENT^

library

PREFACE

Sancta Sophia is the most interesting building on the world's
surface. Like Karnak in Egypt, or the Athenian Parthenon, it
is one of the four great pinnacles of architecture, but unlike
them this is no ruin, nor does it belong to a past world of con-
structive ideas although it precedes by seven hundred years the
fourth culmination of the building art in Chartres, Amiens, or
Bourges, and thus must ever stand as the supreme monument of
the Christian cycle. Far from being a ruin, the church is one
of the best preserved of so ancient monuments, and in regard to
its treatment by the 'Turks we can only be grateful that S.
Sophia has not been situated in the more learned cities of
Europe, such as Rome, Aachen, or Oxford, during " the period
of revived interest in ecclesiastical antiquities." Our first
object has been to attempt some disentanglement of the history of
the Church and an analysis of its design and construction ; on
the one hand, we have been led a step or two into the labyrinth
of Cons tantinopoli tan topography, on the other, we have thought
that the great Church offers the best point of view for the ob-
servation of the Byzantine theory of building.

It may be well for us to state how, in the main, we have
shared our work. The one of us — by the accident of the alphabet,
second named — has done the larger part of the reading and
the whole of the translation required. The first has under-
taken more of the constructive side of the book and the whole of
the illustrations. We both visited Constantinople, and wish to
thank Canon Curtis for help then and since. Mr. Ambrose
Poynter has read the proofs. In our text we have thought it
well to incorporate so far as possible the actual words of the
writers to whom we have referred. The dates when the more
ancient authors wrote are given under their names in the index ;
so are the years of the accession of the Emperors mentioned in
the text. Although we have made full use of Salxenberg s
great work in the preparation of some of our illustrations, none

PREFACE

are mere transcripts from his book. In some instances where
scales are given to details, the scales are but rough approxima-
tions.

Muck remains to be observed at S. Sophia ; the Baptistery,
the Cisterns beneath the church, and the Circular Building to
the east are practically unknown, and any fact noted in regard
to them will almost certainly be new. But it is still more
important that building customs, recipes, and traditions should
be recorded. Byzantine art still exists not only on Mount
Athos but all over the once Christian East — at Damascus the
builders are still Christians, and the Greek masons of Turkey,
M. Choisy says, are still the faithful representatives of the
builders of the Lower Empire, and their present practice is a
sure commentary on the ancient buildings.

A conviction of the necessity for finding the root of archi-
tecture once again in sound common-sense building and pleasur-
able craftsmanship remains as the final result of our study of
S. Sophia, that marvellous work, where, as has so well been
said, there is no part where the principles of rational construc-
tion are not applied with " hardiesse " and " franchise '." In
estimating so highly the Byzantine method of building in its
greatest example, we see that its forms and results directly de-
pended on then pre sent circumstances, and then ordinary materials.
It is evident that the style cannot be copied by our attempt-
ing to imitate Byzantine builders ; only by being
ourselves and free, can our work be
reasonable, and if reason-
able, like theirs
universal.

l'art c'est d'etre absolument soi-meme.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. Byzantium. New Rome, The Acropolis, The Augusteum.
First and Second Churches of S. Sophia . . . page r

CHAPTER II. Justinian's Church. Account of Procopius. Fall of
Dome and Restoration. Accounts of Agathias and Evagrius. page 21

CHAPTER III. The Descriptive Poem of Paul the Silentiary, Parts
1 and 2 . .

page 3 S

CHAPTER IV. The Silentiary's Account, Part 3. The Ambo.
Coronations in the Ambo ..... page ^

CHAPTER V. Main Divisions. Bema. Altar. Ciborium. Crowns,
&c. Altar Veils. Iconostasis. Prothesis and Diakonikon. Holy Well
and Metatorion. Solea. The Nave and Pavement. Font. Crosses.
Miraculous Marbles, Sec. Water Vessels. Images and Tombs. Hang-
ings. Carpets. Synods. Clergy and Ritual. Adoration of the Cross.
Procession to the Church ..... page 66

CHAPTER VI. § 1. The True Cross and Relics of the Passion.
Other Treasure. Accounts by Russian Pilgrims. § 2. The Lighting of

the Church . . , „

page 97

CHAPTER VII. § 1. Later History. Occupation of the Church by
the Crusaders. Fall of Constantinople. § 2. The Anonymous Account
of the Church. § 3. Legends ^122

CHAPTER VIII. Fossati's Reparations. Salzenberg's Description of
Design, Materials, Construction, and Decoration . . page 148

CHAPTER IX. Precincts of the Church, &c. Palaces. Hippodrome
Augusteum. Milion. Horologium. S. Peter's Chapel, &c. Bound-
aries of Church. Atrium. Phiale. Pavement. West Front. Belfry.
Cisterns. Exterior generally pagg '

CHAPTER X. § 1. Byzantine Origins. § 2. The Builders of the
Church. § 3. Original Form of the Church : Dome and N. and
S. Arches, Atrium, N.W. and S.W. Angles, Baptistery and Loggia
§ 4. Structural System. Arch Forms. Vaulting. Dome Construction.
Chainage and Walling. Mortar and Cement . . page ,9g

CHAPTER XI. § 1. Building Procedure. § 2. Marble Quarries and
Identification of the Marbles. § 3. Application of Marble to the Walls.

viii

CONTENTS

§ 4. Marble Masonry. Seven Orders of Byzantine Capitals. Distri-
bution and Dates of Capitals. Shafts and Bases. Responds. Cornices
and Skirtings. Windows, &c. Carving . . . page 234

CHAPTER XII. § 1. Bronze Doors, &c. § 2. Mosaics. Salzenberg's
Description. First Scheme. Later Scheme. Fossati's Description.
Tesserae and Fixing. § 3. Glass. Plaster. Painting. § 4. Monograms
and Inscriptions ...... page 264

S. SOPHIA CHAPTER I

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND THE FIRST CHURCH

Byzantium. — Where the narrow swift-flowing Bosporus,
which divides Asia from the most eastern part of southern
Europe, flows into the Sea of Marmara, a crescent-shaped
arm of the sea runs westward into the land, leaving a narrow
promontory, which, like the prow of a boat in profile,
puts out to the east. The point of this promontory is a
mass of rock rising steeply from the sea: divided by a slight
transverse depression from the rest of the land, it forms the
first hill of the seven which were afterwards inclosed by
the walls of Constantinople.

On this crest (by the present Seraglio Point), commanding
the passage to the Euxine, was built, in the seventh
century b.c, by colonists from Megara — with whom
Dionysius couples the Corinthians — the Acropolis, the
sacred city and citadel, and within certain limits the lines
of its containing walls may still be traced. The lower
city gathered about the slopes outside the Acropolis, and
had other walls defining its landward limits. Dionysius,
the ancient Byzantine writer, who describes the city before
the siege of Severus, 196 a.d., says that this citadel of
Byzantium was on the promontory of the Bosporus, above
the bay called Keras (the Golden Horn). "At a little
distance over the height is the altar of Athena Ecbasia
— of the landing — where the colonists fought as for their

S. SOPHIA

own land. There is too a temple of Poseidon, an ancient
one and hence quite plain, which stands over the sea. . . .
Below the temple of Poseidon, but within the wall, on
the level ground are stadia and gymnasia, and courses for
the young." 1 This Acropolis is roughly outlined in Fig. i,
the evidence being the contours of the hill, remains and
records of certain walls to be mentioned later, and _ the
boundaries between the first four regions in Constantine's
city as given in the Notitia? a description of the city
written in the beginning of the fifth century. The Acro-
polis so defined has a striking resemblance to other Greek
hill cities — Tiryns, Mycenae, Acrocorinth, and the Acropolis
of Athens. In Fig. i the cross shows the site of the
present Church of S. Sophia ; the arrow shows the
Hippodrome, which, still existing, is the great monument of
pre-Constantinian times, and forms the key for all study
of the subsequent city ; O shows the position of the column
said to have been erected by Claudius Gothicus about
270 a.d., which stands at the north end of the Acropolis
overlooking Seraglio or Demetrius Point.

Of the ancient Greek town few positive remains have
come down to us, with the exception of the coins. A publi-
cation by the Greek Philological Society of Constantinople
mentions as among several pre-Constantinian inscriptions a
marble slab found in " the tower next to the Zouk Tsesme
gate on the left as one ascends to S. Sophia," which refers
to the stadium erected by Pausanias the General in 477
B.C., " within the walls of Byzantium and below the temple
of Poseidon." 3 The coins also go back to the fifth century
B.C. The early ones show a cow standing on a dolphin,
with the letters BY. In the third century we have Poseidon
seated on a promontory, and later again a dolphin twined round
a trident — all the types having evident reference to the sea-
washed city. Another relic of ancient Byzantium is still
to be seen below the curve of the Hippodrome, where a

1 'AvaTrAous Boo-iropov, ed. C. Wescher, 1874, p. 5.

2 Notitia Digmtatum, eds. Pancirolus, Venice, 1602, and Seeck Berlin,
1876. The date given by Seeck for the Notitia is 41 1-41 3 a.d.

3 'EWtjvikos $iAoXoyiKOS Su'AAoyos ; 7rapapT^/xa, 1 885.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 3

white marble capital of good Greek Doric work lies
neglected on the seaward bank of the new railway.

In addition to the ancient buildings already mentioned,
we learn froim Dionysius that the city possessed a temple
of Ge Onesddora — the fruitful earth — which consisted of
" an unroofed space surrounded by a wall of polished
stone." Ne;ar by were "temples of Demeter and the
Maiden (Peirsephone), with many pictures in them, relics
of their former wealth." This author was also shown the
sites of temples to Hera and Pluto, " the former having
been destroyed by Darius, and the latter by Philip of
Macedon." He also speaks of a large round tower joined
to the wall of the city.

Some records or legends of the ancient city are also con-
tained in the: Paschal Chronicle.1 After the siege Severus
"built the public bath called Zeuxippus. Now in the
middle of the four-porticoed 2 space stood a bronze stele of
the sun, below which he wrote the name of the sun. The
people of Thirace indeed call the place Helion, but the By-
zantines themselves call this same public bath « of Zeuxippus '
after its original name, although the emperor ordered it
should be callled Severion. Opposite to it in the acropolis
of Byzantiunn he built the temple of Apollo, which also
faced the two other temples formerly built by Byzas — one
to Artemis wiith the olive, and the other to Phedalian Aphro-
dite. And the figure of the sun was taken from the four-
porticoes and placed in this temple (of Apollo). Opposite
the temple of Artemis he built large kennels, and a theatre
opposite the ttemple of Aphrodite. He bought houses and
gardens fromi two brothers, and after pulling down the
former and u prooting the latter he built the Hippodrome.
Severus restoired the Strategion as well. It was first named
by Alexander of Macedon, who, in his campaign against
Darius, reviewed his troops there before attacking the
Persians."

1 Ed. Bonn, i.„ p. 4.94.

2 Lydus speaks of a fire spreading from the " Forum of Zeuxippus " to
that of Constantiine (p. 265). The baths of Zeuxippus are placed at the
north end of the Hippodrome by Labarte and Mordtmann.

B 2

4 S. SOPHIA

New Rome. — It was about 328 a.d. or the _ following
year that Constantine decided to enlarge this city, which
had long been under the domination of Rome, and to
make it his capital. The work of building was pushed
forward with great energy, and it was consecrated in May
330. By an edict engraved on a stone erected in the
Strategium, it was called the New Rome of Constantine.
In the documents of the patriarchs of the Greek Church
the city is still called New Rome.

The quarries of easily wrought marble of large crystal-
line structure and soft white colour found in such abundance
in the island of Proconnesus, only a few miles away over
the sea to which it has given its name of Marmara, then as
now furnished a perfect building material ; while the still
worked quarries of Egypt and Thessaly provided imperial
purple and green. But a richer quarry was doubtless found
in the porphyry and cippolino shafts of the old temples
of many a declining city.

Constantine's city does not appear to have been so
completely Christian as the ecclesiastical writers would have
us suppose. Zosimus tells us that Constantine erected a
shrine to the Dioscuri in the Hippodrome, and he mentions
the temples of Rhea and the Tyche of the city in a large
four-porticoed forum. A whole population of bronze and
marble statues was brought together from Greece, Asia
Minor, and Sicily. The baths of Zeuxippus alone are said
to have had more than sixty bronze statues,1 a still greater
number were assembled in the Augusteum and. other
squares, and in the ( Hippodrome, where, according to
Zosimus,2 Constantine* placed the Pythian tripod, which had
been the central object in the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
On the triple coils of the bronze serpents in the At-Meidan
can still be read the names of the Greek states, which, after
the battle of Plataea, dedicated a tithe of the spoil to
the Delphic oracle, as described by Herodotus.3

An extremely valuable description of ancient Byzantium and

1 Christodorus, a fifth-century poet — F. Baumgarten, 1891.

2 Hist. ed. Bonn, p. 97.

3 Rawlinson's Herodotus, 1875, vol. iv., p. 467.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 5

the reconstruction by Constantine is given by Zosimus, writ-
ing not much more than a century after the transformation.
" Now the city lay upon the crest of a hill which forms
a part of the isthmus that is made by what is called the
' Horn ' (/ce/>a<?) and the Propontis. And formerly it had
its gate (irvXr}) at the end of the colonnades which
Severus built." . . . "And the wall on its western part
descending along with the crest reached to the temple of
Aphrodite, and the sea of Chrysopolis [Scutari] which is
opposite ; and in the same way from the crest the wall
descended northward to the harbour which is called Neorion,
and from thence up to the sea which lies directly in front
of the straits through which one enters the Euxine."
..." This then was the ancient size of the city. And
Constantine erected a circular forum where formerly was the
gale, and surrounded it with porticoes of two storeys. He
set up two very big arches of Proconnesian marble opposite
each other ; through them one entered the porticoes of
Severus or issued from the ancient city. And wishing to
make the city much larger he further continued the old wall
fifteen stadia, and inclosed the city with a wall which cut off
the isthmus from sea to sea."

It is clear from this that the ancient land gate of
Byzantium stood on the crest of the ridge close to the site
now occupied by the Porphyry Column (which was set up by
Constantine in the New Forum), and formed the end of a
street of columns built by Severus (the Mese). From this
gate the wall ran southwards to a temple of Aphrodite, and
along the shore of the Propontis opposite Scutari. North-
wards it descended to the Golden Horn at the Neorion
port, and turned along the shore to Seraglio Point. Now
the Neorion port was just outside the entrance to the
modern Galata bridge,1 and the account agrees perfectly with
the Notitia in which we find the following : " The sixth
ward at entering on it is level ground for a short distance, all
the rest is upon the descent ; for it extends from the Forum
of Constantine to the stairs where you ferry over to Sycae
[Galata]. It contains the porphyry pillar of Constantine ;
1 Mordtmann, Esquisse topo. de Constantinople, p. 48 and map.

S. SOPHIA

the Senate House in the same place, the Neorion port ; the
stairs of Sycae, &c."

It is evident that the city which Constantine found
had been virtually rebuilt by Severus in the style of the
East. From the days when Alexandria and Antioch were
planned a city had become a whole to be designed ac-
cording to rule. Essential features of such cities — of which
Palmyra is the best representative — were long avenues of
columns forming the main streets, and a triumphal arch
with a central "golden milestone." The main street of
columns at Constantinople, which we later hear of by the
name of the Mese as forming the way from the Milion to
the Forum of Constantine, cannot be any other than the
" Porticoes of Severus " just mentioned. In the fifth
century we find the Mese referred to in the building laws of
Zeno. " We ordain that none shall be allowed to obstruct
with buildings the numerous rows of columns which are
erected in the public porticoes, such as those leading from
what is called the Milion to the Capitol," any shops or
booths between the columns " must be ornamented on the
outside at least with marble, that they may beautify the city
and give pleasure to the passers by." 1 Mordtmann shows
that this great columned way occupied very nearly the line
of the present Divan Yiulu ; indeed, it is hardly possible to
divert the great arteries at any stage of a city's evolution,
and the Mese itself probably followed the course of a foot-
track to the gate of the Acropolis.

By building walls across the land between the Golden
Horn and the sea at distances farther and farther from
Seraglio Point, the city has been successively enlarged ; the
great land walls, within which the shrunken city now lies,
are mainly the work of Theodosius II. These, the walls of
the Constantinople known to the Crusaders, are still com-

1 The Museum of Classic. Antiq. 1857, p. 305. The Capitol was
beyond Forum Cons. Lydus speaks of " the porticoes that pass through
the city and lead to the Forum of Constantine, and the broad space is
screened symmetrically with great and beautiful columns. [Some ot ]
these porticoes are said to have been built by men from Naples and
Puteoli who came to Byzantium to please Constantine." (Ed. Bonn, p.
266.)

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 7

paratively perfect ; ;a triple line on the land side and a single
line around the sea margin, some fourteen miles of walls,
eight or ten to fifteen feet thick, strengthened by great
towers, completely jgirdles the city round about. The land-
wall of Constantine's city, situated between the Acropolis
and the present walls, has disappeared, but its course has
been traced (see Fig. 1).

Acropolis. — The topography of ancient Constantinople
has engaged the attention of generations of writers, and an
approximation to true results has undoubtedly been reached.
First we must mention Pierre Gilles, usually called Gyllius,
who, travelling to collect MSS. for Francis I., resided in the
city for many years., and died in 1555. Then Du Cange, in
his great work Constantinopolis Christiana, 1680, by a careful
comparison of the authorities, certainly made discoveries in
a country he had never visited. The folios of Banduri 1
followed in 171 1 ; and in 1861 Labarte published a more
detailed study of tine Imperial quarter, chiefly based on the
ample notices in the Book of Ceremonies of Constantine
Porphyrogenitus. This work, Le Palais Imperial de
Constantinople et sess Abords, shows remarkable insight and
critical acumen. Buzantios in Constantinopolis, 1 861, and
Paspates in his Byzantinae Melatae, 1877, made several
further identifications. The latter followed with 'The
Great Palace of Constantinople, recently translated by Mr.
Metcalfe, which go<es over the same ground as Labarte ; but
the excavations for the railway, which now circles Seraglio
Point, had in the mieantime exposed some remains, and made
the examination of certain walls possible.

Although Paspates made several valuable suggestions,
many of his conclusions are certainly not sustained by his
reasoning; indeed, Labarte in many points of divergence
was probably much nearer the facts. Paspates' views
were accepted by Mr. Bury,2 to be followed in turn by

1 Imperium Orientate:, Paris, 171 1.

2 Bury, A History of the later Roman Empire (395 a.d. to 800 a.d.),
vol. i., p. 57. Mr. Buiry, in an excellent review of Paspates' book in

S. SOPHIA

Fig. i.— Plan of Constantinople showing its development.

Mr. Oman in The Byzantine Empire of the " Story of the
Nations" Series. A work in Russian has recently been
devoted to the study of the Palace quarter.1 Unger's
collection of topographical references in Quellen der Byzan-
tinischen Kunstgeschicht is also of the greatest service.

In 1892 appeared Dr. Mordtmann's Esquisse, together with
a large plan of the city, on which the probable identifications
of the ways and buildings were laid down ; this was prepared

The Scottish Review, Ay. 1894, gives up the position assigned to the
Augusteura by that author. _

1 D. Byeljajev, Byzantina, St. Petersburg, 1891, reviewed in Byzan-
tinische Zeitschrift, 1892, p. 344.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 9

Fig. 2. — Plan of the Acropolis, &c, of Constantine's city.

at the instance of the Comte Riant, who, in his Exuviae
Constantinopolitanae, contributed the result of much research
to our knowledge of Byzantine antiquities.

Dr. Mordtmann, by a study of the whole of the city area
and its entire circumvallation as we have it to-day, in
comparison with the written descriptions, has laid a firmer
grasp on the problem. Labarte, he points out, was chiefly
misled by a confusion of the buildings in the Forum of
Constantine and those in the Forum Augusteum — a mistake
elaborated in some respects by Paspates. Labarte thus
placed the prophyry column of Constantine, which still
marks the site of the former, together with other buildings

S. SOPHIA

that were quartered about it, all within the Augusteum,
which last he rightly identified with the present open space
to the south-west of S. Sophia. Texier, who in 1834 made
a careful study of the ancient city, rightly distinguished the
two fora.1

Fig. 2 will assist in making clear our views as to the
transformation of the Acropolis under Constantine. The
Byzantine brick walls which now inclose the old Serai
Labarte regarded as of late work, and we think the style
of the building would very well bear out Paspates' opinion
that they were erected by Michael Palaeologus. The
excavation for the railway exposed some remains of a wall
near O in our Fig. 1 which Paspates describes as " built of
large stones as much as 10 feet long by 2 J broad, and
il thick." 2 The rest of the seaward wall still forming the
substructure of the retaining wall of the sea-front of the
old Serai, and running in a direction parallel to the Hippo-
drome, is also of stone. This wall is probably ancient or
follows the course of the ancient Acropolis inclosure which
is described by Dion Cassius as " built on rising ground and
projecting into the sea. . . . The walls are very strong,
formed of large squared stones bound together with copper,
and the inside is so strengthened with earth and buildings
that the whole seems one thick wall." 3

The late Anonymous author edited by Banduri says that
the wall of ancient Byzantium commenced at the Golden
Horn near the gate of S. Eugenius to pass along by the
Golden Milestone.4 We place no reliance on the Anonymous
for early history, but there is much to confirm Mordtmann's
view that an ancient wall occupied this position and that the
Milion — which the Anonymous says was the land gate —
was situated upon its course and formed indeed the entrance
from the Street of Columns. This wall, which Mordtmann
says passed on the land side of the old Serai in front of the

1 MSS., plans, and descriptions, in the Library of R. Inst. Brit.
Architects.

2 Paspates, The Great Palace, p. 20. Mr. Metcalfe's translation is
intended throughout.

3 Lib. lxxiv., ch. 10. 4 Mordtmann, Esquisse, pp. 4 and 5.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH n

modern museum (Tchenli Kiosk) where there is a high
retaining wall, and continued to the west of S. Sophia not
far from the narthex, we consider must be that which
formed the landward inclosure of the Acropolis. The
fourth region of the city, Mordtmann says, was separated
from the second by the rock of the Acropolis and this wall.
We are confirmed in our acceptance of the other wall described
by Paspates as the seaward wall of the Acropolis, not only
because it is built against the steep escarpment of the rock,
but by finding that in the division of the city into the wards
or regions of the Notitia the first ward exactly comprised
the space between the wall and the sea ; the second region
contained the old Acropolis itself, with a triangle of lower
ground at the north against the Golden Horn, where was
probably the sea gate ; while the third was divided from
the fourth by the great way which left the Milion gate on
the old landward wall of the Acropolis. Such pre-existing
features naturally formed the boundaries of the wards.

We now give from the Notitia Dignitatum the descrip-
tions of the first four regions of the fourteen into which
Constantine's city was divided, which will show how Con-
stantine occupied the old areas with the royal and public
quarters of his new city. Twelve regions were included
within the walls, and two others were formed by the suburbs
of Blachernae and Galata.

Region I.

Contains the house of Placidia
Augusta ; the house of most noble
Marina ; the Baths of Arcadius ;
27 streets or alleys ; 1 18 houses ; 2
porticoes; 1 5 private baths; 4 public
cornmills ; 1 5 private cornmills ; 4
terraces of steps. It is under one
curator, who looks after the whole
region ; it has 1 vernaculus, a slave
(or messenger) for all regions ; 25
collegiati, who are selected from
different Guilds (Corporati), and
help at fires ; and 5 street wardens,
who watch the city at night.

Region II.

Gradually rises with a gentle
ascent beginning from the smaller
theatre, and then descends abruptly
to the sea. It contains the Great
Church ; the Ancient Church ; the
Senate ; the Tribunal built with
porphyry steps ; the Baths of Zeuxip-
pus ; the theatre ; the amphitheatre ;
34 streets or alleys, 98 houses ; 4
large porticoes ; 13 private baths ;
4 private cornmills ; 4 terraces of
steps. It had also I curator, 1 ver-
naculus ; 35 collegiati, 5 street
wardens.

S. SOPHIA

Region III.
Is a plane surface in its higher
part, where is the Circus, but from
the end of this it descends steeply
to the sea. It contains the Circus
Maximus ; the house of Pulcheria
Augusta ; the new harbour ; a semi-
circular portico, called by the
Greeks Sigma .; the Tribunal of the
Forum of Constantine ; 7 streets ;
94 houses ; 5 large porticoes ; 1 1
private baths ; 9 private cornmills.
It had I curator ; I vernaculus ; it
had also 21 collegiati ; and 5 street
wardens.

Region IV.
From the Golden Milliarium is
prolonged, with hills rising to right
and left in a valley leading to an
open space. It contains the golden
Milliarium ; the Augusteum ; the
Basilica ; the Nymphaeum ; the
Portico of Fanio ; a marble ship — the
monument of a naval victory — the
church or martyrium of S. Mennas;
the Stadium ; the Scala Timasii ;
32 streets; 375 houses; 4 large
porticoes; 7 private baths; 5 private
cornmills ; 7 terraces of steps. It
had I curator ; I vernaculus ; 45
collegiati ; 5 street wardens.

Augusteum. — Thus Region I., occupying the land between
the Acropolis wall and the sea, was partly reserved for
palaces ; Region II. coincided with the Acropolis, and had its
south end devoted to the Forum Augusteum and the
Christian Basilicas of S. Sophia (" the Great Church ") and
St. Irene (« the Old Church."). It will be observed that in
the Notitia the Augusteum is given to Region IV., to which it
does indeed adjoin ; Mordtmann 1 considers that the Aug-
usteum, like the buildings round it, must have belonged to
Region II., but suggests that there may have been a continu-
ation of the open space farther to the west in Region IV.,
and some such space as this certainly seems required by
several of the references.

Gyllius first made the identification of the Augusteum
with the present open space on the south of S. Sophia ; in
this he was followed by Labarte, and Mordtmann concurs.
Paspates in making the Augusteum occupy the ground along
the east side of the Hippodrome stands alone against, as it
seems to us, all evidence. For example, he is compelled to
shift the inscribed pedestal of the statue of the Empress
Eudoxia, which we cannot but believe was found in its
original position (see Mordtmann, p. 64, and Paspates, p. 105,
and below, p. 13). The Mese moreover he makes the centre
of his Augusteum. Mr. Bury thought it proved that the

1 Esquisse Top. p. 3.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 13

Augusteum "was also called the Forum of Constantine,"
because a passage in Cedrenus speaks of the Senate House
(to aevdrov) as in the Forum of Constantine. It is
perfectly clear however from the Notitia that there were two
Senate Houses — one in the Forum mentioned in the extract
we have given from the description of the sixth ward, and the
other included in the second region as just quoted.1

In the Augusteum was erected a Senate, its front facing
the west. "The Senate," says Mordtmann, "was placed
where to-day stands the Tribunal of Commerce." That is,
on the east side of the present place of S. Sophia against
what must have been the eastern side of the Augusteum and
the ancient Acropolis, on the seaward wall of which it was
probably founded. In digging the foundations of the
Tribunal of Commerce in 1847 the ancient pavement was
found, at a depth of twelve feet, and the base of the cele-
brated statue of Eudoxia, with an inscription, marked it as
the site of the Courts of Justice (Mordtmann, p. 64). The
statue, Socrates 2 says, was " of silver, and it stood upon
a lofty pedestal {bema), not far from the church called
S. Sophia, with a road between."

The Augusteum, following the Hippodrome, does not lie
four-square with the cardinal points, but almost diagonally to
them : for convenience, however, we shall speak of the direc-
tions as North, South, East, and West, calling the side towards
the Mese the west. On the north side, and following the
same system of alignment, is the present S. Sophia. The palace
of the Patriarch probably adjoined the church, on the north
side of the square.

The royal palaces mentioned in the Notitia were on the
south of the Augusteum. According to the Paschal Chronicle,
written about 630 a.d., Constantine the Great made a palace
beside the Hippodrome, " and the ascent from the palace to
the stand of the Hippodrome was by means of the stair called
the spiral " (Paspates, Great Palace, p. 47). This palace does

1 Zosimus (p. 139) and Lydus (p. 265) say that the Emperor Julian
built a Senate. So also according to Sozomen (ii. 3) and the Paschal
Chron. did Constantine.

2 Hist, eccles. lib. vi., ch. xviii.

i4 S. SOPHIA

not seem to have become of great importance until Justinian's
time. The Notitia merely mentions the House of Placidia
Augusta, and the House of the most noble Marina, the
daughters of Arcadius, in the first ward ; and the House of
Pulcheria Augusta in the third ; and speaks of several other
royal palaces in the 9th, 10th, and nth wards. The palace
of the emperor at this time was in the 14th ward, which was
outside the walls and isolated, making " the figure of a small
city by itself ; " this is the celebrated palace of Blachernae.

The Church. — It was in May 328 that Helena is said to
have discovered the true cross and other relics at Jerusalem.
And this event, which synchronizes exactly with Constantine's
choice of Byzantium as his capital, was probably not without
direct relation to the foundation of the church dedicated to
Christ. Socrates writes, " A portion of the cross she (Helena)
inclosed in a silver chest and left in Jerusalem as a memorial,
but the other part she sent to the king." 1

Theophanes, Cedrenus, Glycas, Paul the Deacon,
Nicephorus Callistus, and other late historians agree in
making Constantine the founder of the first Church dedi-
cated to the Second Person of the Trinity as the Divine
Wisdom ; and Cedrenus even gives a name — Euphrates — to
the architect.2 Codinus, who wrote in the fifteenth century,
alone relates that Constantine purified a previously existing
temple and dedicated it to Christian uses.

There is much evidence to show that the church could
not have been completed by Constantine even if he had
founded it, or contemplated its foundation. In the life of
the emperor, the Church of the Holy Apostles, which was
built near the Forum of Constantine, and in which the
emperor was buried, is described at length,3 but it does not
mention S. Sophia, although the author takes pains to enu-
merate the Christian objects in the city — saying that there
were " many Oratories and Martyria, and by the fountains in
the middle of the agorae were figures in gilt bronze of the

1 Ecc. Hist. lib. i., xvii.

2 Du Cange, Descriptio S. Sopkiae, ed. Bonn, p. 62.

3 Eusebius, De Vita Cons. lib. iv., cap. Iviii-lix.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 15

Good Shepherd and of Daniel with the lions ; in the palace
was a cross wrought in gold with many coloured precious
stones." 1

In the fifth century Notitia, as we have seen, S. Irene is
called the Old Church and S. Sophia the Great Church.

The historian Socrates, probably the best authority, says
that Constantine " built two churches, one he called Irene and
the other the Apostles," 2 and he attributes S. Sophia entirely
to Constantius. " The King built the great church which is
called Sophia and joined it to that called Irene, which the
father of the king had previously increased and beautified, and
now both churches were included within one wall and had
one title."

Upon its completion, it was dedicated, with magnificent cere-
mony, by the patriarch Eudoxius on Sunday, February 1 5th,
360 a.d., "in the thirty-fourth year after its foundation." 3
This would fix its foundation in the year 326 a.d., two years
after Constantine, having defeated Licinius, had begun to
reign alone. Cedrenus writes, " Eudoxius consecrated a second
time the Church of the Divine Wisdom, because after its first
completion, and the dedication by Eusebius, it had fallen and
been again restored by Constantius,"4 and he places this event
in the twenty-second year of Constantius' reign.

Cedrenus is a late and credulous writer, and in attributing
a first dedication to Eusebius — who would certainly have told
us himself — he shows how untrustworthy is the whole story.
Altogether we cannot do better than accept the account of
Idatius and that given in the Paschal Chronicle^ with perhaps
a little suspicion on the part which refers to Constantine, " In
this year (360) in the month Peritius was dedicated the great
church of Constantinople, in the thirty-fourth year from
the time when Constantine had laid the foundations. For
the opening ceremony {encaenia) Constantius brought many
offerings of gold, and great treasure of silver ; many tissues
adorned with gold thread and stones for the sanctuary ; for

1 De Vita Cons. lib. iii., cap. xlviii.-xlix.

2 Eccl. Hist, ii., xvi.

3 Du Cange, p. 63. He quotes the fifth-century author Idatius.

4 Ed. Bonn, i., p. 523, and i., p. 530.

!6 S. SOPHIA

the doors of the church different curtains (amphithuriai) of
gold ; and for the outside gateways (puleones) many others
with gold threads." According to the late Anonymous author
(see page 1 29), "in the reign of Theodosius the Great (t395)
and in the patriarchate of Nectarius (381-398)* seventy-four
years after the church was built, the roof of the church
was destroyed by fire ;" he probably really meant the fire of
404 in Arcadius' reign. At that time S. John Chrysostom,
incurring the dislike of the Empress Eudoxia, was banished.
He was brought back at the end of two days, once more
preached in S. Sophia, and was exiled again, with disastrous
results, for his partisans set fire to the church and destroyed
it. " This happened on the 20th of June, in the consulship
of Honorius and Aristaenetus " (404). 1

The fire was by some thought to be of supernatural origin.
Palladius, the bishop's biographer, writes, "Then a flame
seemed to burst from the centre of the throne in which he
used to sit, and climbed up by the chains [of lamps] to the
roof . . . and crept like a wriggling snake upon the back of
the houses of the church." There was also burnt the Senate,
« lying many paces to the south opposite the church ; and
the fire spared only the little house, in which the sacred
vessels were kept." .

The church was again injured by fire, restored by Theodosius
II., and rededicated in 4 15. 2 Fresh relics were required for
this rededication.3 One fact of importance in regard to this
church is related by Sozomenus of the Empress Pulcheria.
" She dedicated an altar in the church of Constantinople, a
most wonderful work of gold and precious stones, on behalf
of her virginity and her brothers' empire. And she wrote
this on the face of the table so that it might be clear to
all."4

From this time until the outbreak known as the Nika
sedition, in January 532, the church is not said to have
been further altered. According to Cedrenus, the records and
charters perished with the church.

1 Socrates, Hist. Eccl. vi., 18.

2 Du Cange, § 3.

3 Pascb. Chron. ed. Bonn, i., p. 572.

4 Eccl. Hist, ix., 1.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 17

There cannot be a doubt that the present S. Sophia occupies
the site of the first church. A church once made holy by
dedication and the reception of relics could not be transported.
Indeed it is possible that it may occupy the site of one of the
Greek temples, for there was a constant tendency to this
supersession on one sacred site ; and the present church
stands on the very crest of the old Acropolis. If there were
any sufficient reason to identify the site with that of the
altar of Pallas, the dedication of the church itself would
evidently be one of the many instances of a transference of
title from the old worship. The Parthenon — where Hellenic
rites survived to the sixth century — became a church in this
way dedicated to the Holy Wisdom.1 The axis of the
church seems to point somewhere between 300 and 350 south
of east, where there is a considerable sea prospect and a low
horizon. This direction, either by accident or intention, must
agree very closely with sunrise at the winter solstice : 2 the
latitude of the church being 410 o' 26". The plan will show
that the ancient Hippodrome, and probably the other build-
ings, were set out in relation to this axis.

In comparing the early Basilicas of Constantinian date,
both those that exist and those of which we have descriptions,
we find that they generally, if not invariably, had their doors
of entrance at the east end, and their apses towards the west,
exactly the opposite of the more recent custom. Rohault
De Fleury says this was usual in the East till the fifth century,
and the custom continued much later in Rome. Kraus, in
the best study of the subject,3 writes : " S. Agatha at Ravenna
must be mentioned as the first which had its altar at the east
end: it was built in 417, and in this century the practice
became general."

Socrates (f 440) says of the church of Antioch that "the
altar stood not at the east but at the west" but he speaks of

1 See Tozer's note, Finlay, vol. i., 45.

2 Justinian's church was opened -at Christmas.

3 Art. " Orientirung" in Real Encyklopadie der Christlichen Altertbumer,
1 886, based on Mothes' schedule in Die Basilikenformen, 1865. We hope
to show on another occasion that the present church at Bethlehem which
points to the east was entirely rebuilt by Justinian. There is no proof
that S. George Salonica is older than fifth cent.

S. SOPHIA

this as contrary to the usual custom at the time he wrote.
This church was founded by Constantine and finished by his
son. The Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, built
by Constantine to contain the relics of S. Luke, seems also to
have been entered at the east, for S. John Chrysostom 1 speaks
of the emperor being buried "in the part in front of the
doors," and an anonymous author, who wrote about the
imperial sepulchres, says that Constantine's sarcophagus was
" in front towards the east."2

We shall thus be following the reasonable suggestion of
comparative archaeology in saying that the first church of S.
Sophia almost certainly had its entrance doors at the east —
the sanctuary end of the present church.

The church was probably only of medium size ; the
length of the present church is about 250 feet, its vastness
being in its width. The Paschal Chronicle speaks of " its
stupendous and marvellous columns all being e'/e rerpaevrov " ;
but owing to a variant reading it is difficult to determine
whether it means that the pillars were square, or were set in
a square, or formed four bays. Glycas and Codinus, who
wrote a thousand years after the foundation of the church,
say that it was basil ican (dromika), and had a wooden roof
{xulotroullos), and the latter says that the church of
Theodosius had cylindrical vaults. As it is evident from
the rapid destruction by fire that the roofs of the early
churches were of wood, they were probably Basilicas. Only
a few minor particulars, such as the existence of an atrium,
and the right of sanctuary in the bema (thusiasteriori), can
be gathered from the homilies of S. Chrysostom. Socrates
tells us that this patriarch was wont to preach " in the ambo
for the sake of being better heard." 3 From Palladius we
learn that there was a baptistery (in which the Sixth Council
of Constantinople, a.d. 394/ appears to have met) attached
to the church, and it was here Chrysostom took leave of the
deaconesses at his banishment, as described in a passage diffi-

1 Homilies xxvi. and Ix.

2 De Sepulcris Imperatorum, Migne S. G., vol. 157, p. 726.

3 Migne, p. 674.

* Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church, vol. iii., p. 120.

THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE AND FIRST CHURCH 19

cult to interpret. " He went out of the baptistery on the
east side, for there was no western (exit). The mule which
he usually rode was made to stand westwards before the gate
to the church, where is the porch, so that he might escape
the people who were expecting him." The passage from
the same author about the waters of the font being stained
with blood does not, as is sometimes supposed, necessarily
refer to S. Sophia.

In applying the plan of a church of mean size so that the
doors should face eastwards, we are at once struck by finding
that the western hemicycle of the present church would lie
about the apse ; and we cannot but suggest that in this we
may have the very raison d'etre of the remarkable plan of
the present church, which it would seem might be properly
classed with those churches which have apses at both ends,
like the early basilica at Orleansville near Tunis ; 1 the MS.
plan of S. Gall is the best known example ; our own early
church at Canterbury was another instance, the result of
adding to a church with a western apse ; France furnishes
Besan^on and Nevers, and Germany numerous examples.

It is indeed possible that some parts of the old structure
may have given practical and positive reasons contributing
to this result, and a thorough examination of the cisterns
beneath the present floor of S. Sophia may yet yield full
evidence of the first basilica ; or if these vaults were entirely
built for Justinian's church, their material would almost
certainly be derived from the earlier building.

We suggest that the circular brick building lying at the
north-east angle of the present church belonged to the pre-
Justinian church, and formed its baptistery. It is about
forty-five feet exterior diameter, and the plan as given by Sal-
zenberg shows great resemblance to other circular structures
of the Constantinian age ; such as S. Constantia in Rome, the
" tomb of Helen " at Rome, and the round tomb buildings
which adjoined S. Peter's as shown in the plan of Ciampini.2

1 Revue Arch'eologique, vol. iv., p. 659, and Kugler, Geschichte der
Baukunst, vol. i., p. 372.

2 For similar early circular baptisteries see Martigny, Diet. Christ.
Antiq.

C 2

S. SOPHIA

The entrance doorway of this building was to the east.

As to its use. In the contemporary account of Justinian's
church, the poet Paulus, describing the north aisle, says, " On
the north is a door admitting the people to the founts that
purify the stains of mortal life and heal every scar." He
does not mention the present south-west building, nor has he
any other reference to a font. We suppose therefore that
this isolated building on the north-east escaped the Nika
fire, and served as the baptistery of the new church, until
the square building, on the side of the church towards the
Augusteum, which is spoken of in the Ceremonies as the
" Great Baptistery by the Horologium," was erected for or
diverted to this purpose.

We very probably have some relics of the earlier build-
ings in certain capitals which Salzenberg found in the church:1
the inscribed bricks,2 and a Byzantine Corinthian capital now
lying in the courtyard, may likewise have belonged to it.
The fine bronze doors to south porch are evidently earlier
than the present church, and so probably are the slabs of
which the screen on south side of first floor is partly made up.

See Salz., plate xx., figs. 4, 5.

2 Ibid. p. 19.

CHAPTER II

Justinian's church

The New Church. — The pre-Justinian church was burnt
on the 15th January, 532 1 — the first day of the sedition —
and the work of reconstruction was begun on the 23rd of
the following month.2

Theophanes 3 says the period employed in the construction
was five years eleven months and ten days ; the statements
therefore of Codinus and Glycas, that it took seventeen years
to build, are completely at variance with this more credible
author.

The solemn dedication took place, as Marcellinus Comes
describes,4 on 26th December, 537, Indiction 15, in the
eleventh year of Justinian's reign.

A description of this dedication ceremony is given by
Theophanes.5 " The procession started from the church of
Anastasia, Menas the patriarch sitting in the royal chariot,
and the king walking with the people."

In the thirty-second year of Justinian's reign an earth-
quake destroyed a great portion of the newly erected
church.6

Now Procopius, whose contemporary history of the

1 Chron. Pasch. ed. Bonn, p. 622.

2 Zonaras also gives the true date ; according to the Byzantine era
the year of the world 6040. In Cedrenus it appears as 6008, a copyist's
error in writing for u.

3 Ed. Bonn, p. 338. * Migne, S.L. vol. li., p. 943.
5 Ed. Bonn, p. 378. e Tbeo. p. 359.

S. SOPHIA

edifices built by Justinian was, according to Krumbacher,1
finished and published in the year 558 or the spring of 559
at latest, makes no mention of this earthquake of 558,
though he describes in full how, during the building of the
church, which was completed in 537, the piers of the eastern
arch threatened to give way before it was finished. We may
therefore conclude that he describes Justinian's church in its
first state.

The translation from Procopius here given is based on
that of Mr. Aubrey Stewart, published by the Palestine
Pilgrims' Text Society, which has been compared with the
original. We give in Fig. 3 a plan of the church as built by
Justinian, so far as the evidence will allow of an approxi-
mately certain restoration.

As the several different curved portions of the plan are
difficult to distinguish, we propose so far as possible to reserve
certain words for separate parts. The small eastern semi-
circle and its vault will be called apse and apsoid respectively.
Hemicycle and semidome will refer to the great semicircle
at the east or west and its vault. The pairs of curved spaces
forming the lateral recesses in the hemicycles we propose to
name exedras and their half-domes conchs.

Procopius. — " The lowest dregs of the people in Byzan-
tium once assailed the Emperor Justinian in the rebellion
called Nika, which I have clearly described in my History
of the Wars. To prove that it was not merely against the
emperor but no less against God that they took up arms,
they ventured to burn the church of the Christians which
the people of Byzantium call Sophia, a name most worthy of
God. God permitted them to effect this crime, knowing
how great the beauty of this church would be when restored.
Thus the church was entirely reduced to ashes ; but the
Emperor Justinian not long afterwards adorned the new one
in such a fashion, that if any one had asked the Christians in
former times, if they wished their church to be destroyed
and thus restored, showing them the appearance of the

1 Geschkhte der Byzantinischer Litteratur, 1893, p. 42. Ramsay says
it could not have been completed until 560. See Historical Geography 0/
Asia Minor, p. 205.

Fig. 3. — Plan of S. Sophia as built by Justinian.

S. SOPHIA

church which we now see, I think it probable that they
would have prayed that they might so soon as possible behold
their church destroyed, in order that it might be changed
into its present form. The emperor, thinking not of cost of
any kind, pressed on the work, and collected together workmen
[technitai) from every land. Anthemius of Tralles, the most
skilled in the builder's art, not only of his own but of all
former times, carried forward the king's zealous intentions,
organised the labours of the workmen, and prepared models
of the future construction. Associated with him was another
architect (mechanopoios) named Isidorus, a Milesian by birth,
a man of intelligence, and worthy to carry out the plans of
the Emperor Justinian. It is indeed a proof of the esteem
with which God regarded the emperor, that he furnished
him with men who would be so useful in effecting his designs,
and we are compelled to admire the wisdom of the emperor,
in being able to choose the most suitable of mankind to
execute the noblest of his works.

"The church consequently presents a most glorious
spectacle, extraordinary to those who behold it, and altogether
incredible to those who are told of it. In height it rises to the
very heavens, and overtops the neighbouring buildings like a
ship anchored among them, appearing above the rest of the city,
while it adorns and forms a part of it. One of its beauties
is that being a part of and growing out of the city, it rises
so high that the whole city can be seen as from a watch-
tower. The length and breadth are so judiciously arranged
that it appears to be both long and wide without being
disproportioned.

" It is distinguished by indescribable beauty, excelling both
in its size, and in the harmony of its measures, having no
part excessive and none deficient ; being more magnificent
than ordinary buildings, and much more elegant than those
which are not of so just a proportion. The church is
singularly full of light and sunshine ; you would declare that
the place is not lighted by the sun from without, but that
the rays are produced within itself, such an abundance of
light is poured into this church. 'The Apse. — Now the head
(prosopon) of the church (that is to say the part towards the

JUSTINIAN'S CHURCH

rising sun, where the sacred mysteries are performed in
honour of God) is built as follows. The building rises from
the ground not in a straight line, but setting back somewhat
obliquely, it retreats in the middle into a rounded form
which those who are learned in these matters call semi-
cylindrical, rising perpendicularly. Apsoid and Semidome.—
The upper part of this work ends in the fourth part of
a sphere, and above it another crescent-shaped {menoeides)
structure is raised upon the adjacent parts of the building,
admirable for its beauty, but causing terror by the apparent
weakness o'f its construction ; for it appears not to rest upon
a secure foundation, but to hang dangerously over the heads
of those below, although it is really supported with especial
firmness and safety. Exedras. — On each side of these parts
are columns standing upon the floor, which are not placed
in a straight line, but arranged with an inward curve of
semicircular shape, one beyond another like the dancers in a
chorus. These columns support above them a crescent-shaped
structure. Opposite the east wall is built another wall,
containing the entrances, and upon either side of it also
stand columns, with stone-work above them, in a half-circle
exactly like those previously described. Great Piers and
Arches. — In the midst of the church are four masses of
stone called piers (pessoi)y two on the north, and two on the
south sides, opposite and alike, having four columns in the
space between each pair. These piers are formed of large
stones fitted together, the stones being carefully selected, and
cleverly jointed into one another by the masons,1 and
reaching to a great height. Looking at them, you would
compare them to perpendicular cliffs. Upon them, four
arches (apsides) 2 arise over a quadrilateral space. The
extremities of these arches join one another in pairs, their
ends resting upon the piers, while the other parts of them
rise to a great height, suspended in the air. Two of these
arches, that is those towards the rising and the setting of the
sun, are constructed over the empty air, but the others have
under them some stone-work, and small columns. Dome

1 Ai#oAoyos — really one who picks out and lays stones.

2 di/rts, " a binding together," used for either an arch or a semidome.

S. SOPHIA

and Pendentives. — Now above these arches is raised a circular
building of a curved form through which the light of day first
shines ; for the building, which I imagine overtops the
whole country, has small openings left on purpose, so that
the places where these intervals occur may serve for the
light to come through. Thus far I imagine the building
is not incapable of being described, even by a weak and
feeble tongue. As the arches are arranged in a quadrangular
figure, the stone-work between them takes the shape of a
triangle, the lower angle of each triangle, being compressed
where the arches unite, is slender, while the upper part becomes
wider as it rises in the space between them, and ends against the
circle which rests upon them, forming there its remaining
angles. A spherical -shaped dome {tholos} standing upon this
circle makes it exceedingly beautiful ; from the lightness
of the building, it does not appear to rest upon a solid
foundation, but to cover the place beneath as though it
were suspended from heaven by the fabled golden chain.
All these parts surprisingly joined to one another in the air,
suspended one from another, and resting only on that which
is next to them, form the work into one admirably harmonious
whole, which spectators do not dwell upon for long in the
mass, as each individual part attracts the eye to itself. The
sight causes men constantly to change their point of view,
and the spectator can nowhere point to any part which he
admires more than the rest. Seeing the art which appears
everywhere, men contract their eyebrows as they look at each
part, and are unable to comprehend such workmanship, but
always depart thence, stupefied, through their incapacity.
So much for this.

" The Emperor Justinian and the architects Anthemius and
Isidorus used many devices to construct so lofty a church with
security. One of these I will now explain, by which a man
may form some opinion of the strength of the whole work ;
as for the others I am not able to discover them all, and find
it impossible to describe them in words. It is as follows :
The piers, of which I just now spoke, are not constructed in
the same manner as the rest of the building ; but in this
fashion ; they consist of quadrangular courses of stone, rough

JUSTINIAN'S CHURCH

by nature, and made smooth by art ; of these stones, those
which make the projecting angles of the pier are cut angularly
(engonios), while those which go in the middle parts of the
sides are cut square (tetragonos).

" They are fastened together not with lime {titanos), called
' unslaked ' {asbestos), not with asphaltum, the boast of Semi-
ramis at Babylon, nor anything of the kind, but with lead,
which, poured into the interstices, has sunk into the joints
of the stones, and binds them together ; this is how they are
built.

" Let us now proceed to describe the remaining parts of the
church. The entire ceiling is covered with pure gold, which
adds to its glory, though the reflections of the gold upon the
marble surpass it in beauty. There are two aisles one above
another on each side, which do not in any way lessen the size
of the church, but add to its width. In length they reach
quite to the ends of the building, but in height they fall
short of it ; these also have domed ceilings adorned with
gold. Of these two porticoes one [ground floor] is set apart
for male and the other [upper floor] for female worshippers ;
there is no variety in them, nor do they differ in any respect
from one another, but their very equality and similarity add
to the beauty of the church. Who could describe these
gynaeceum galleries, or the numerous porticoes (stoat) and
cloistered courts (peristuloi aulai) with which the church is
surrounded ? Who could tell of the beauty of the columns
and marbles with which the church is adorned ? One would
think that one had come upon a meadow full of flowers in
bloom ! Who would not admire the purple tints of some,
and the green of others, the glowing red and the glittering
white, and those too, which nature, painter-like, has marked
with the strongest contrasts of colour ? Whoever enters
there to worship perceives at once that it is not by any human
strength or skill, but by the favour of God, that this work
has been perfected ; the mind rises sublime to commune with
God, feeling that He cannot be far off, but must especially
love to dwell in the place which He has chosen ; and this is
felt not only when a man sees it for the first time, but it
always makes the same impression upon him, as though he

S. SOPHIA

had never beheld it before. No one ever became weary of
this spectacle, but those who are in the church delight in what
they see, and, when they leave, magnify it in their talk.
Moreover it is impossible accurately to describe the gold,
and silver, and gems, presented by the Emperor Justinian ;
but by the description of one part, I leave the rest to be
inferred. — That part of the church which is especially sacred,
and where the priests alone are allowed to enter, which is
called the Sanctuary (jhusiasterion), contains forty thousand
pounds' weight of silver.

" The above is an account, written in the most abridged and
cursory manner, describing in the fewest possible words the
most admirable structure of the church at Constantinople,
which is called the Great Church, built by the Emperor
Justinian, who did not merely supply the funds for it, but
assisted at its building by the labour and powers of his mind,
as I will now explain. Of the two arches (apsides), which
I lately mentioned — the architects (mechanopoioi) call them
loroi 1 — that one which stands towards the east had been built
up on each side, but had not altogether been completed in
the middle, where it was still imperfect ; when the piers
(pes soi) upon which the building rested, unable to support
the weight which was put upon them, somehow all at once
split open, and seemed as though before long they would fall
to pieces. Upon this Anthemius and Isidorus, terrified at
what had taken place, referred the matter to the emperor,
losing all confidence in their own skill. He at once, I know
not by what impulse, but probably inspired by Heaven, for he
is not an architect, ordered them to complete this arch ; for
it, said he, resting upon itself, will no longer need the piers
(pessoi) below.2 Now if this story were unsupported by
witnesses, I am well assured that it would seem to be written
in order to flatter, and would be quite incredible ; but as
there are many witnesses now alive of what then took place
I shall not hesitate to finish it. The workmen performed his
bidding, the arch was safely suspended, and proved by ex-

1 Awpos, " a thong " or a belt.

2 The author seems here to mistake the piers for the temporary support
of the arch while it was being built.

JUSTINIAN'S CHURCH

periment the truth of his conception. So much then for
this part of the building ; now with regard to the other
arches, those looking to the south and to the north, the
following incidents took place. When the arches called
loroi were raised aloft during the building of the church
everything below them laboured under their weight, and the
columns which are placed there shed little scales, as though
they had been planed.

" Alarmed at this, the architects (mechanikoi) again referred
the matter to the emperor, who devised the following
scheme. He ordered the upper part of the work that was
giving way to be taken down where it touched the arches
for the present, and to be replaced afterwards when the damp
had thoroughly left the fabric. This was done, and the
building has stood safely ever since, so that the structure, as
it were, bears witness to the emperor's skill."

Fall of Dome and Restoration.- — On the 7th of May, 558,
the eastern part of the dome, " built by Isaurian workmen,
with the apse, was thrown down by an earthquake, destroying
in its fall the holy table, the ciborium, and the ambo." 1
Reference is made to this in the opening lines of the
Silentiary's poem (see Chapter III.). According to Theo-
phanes " the architects attributed its fall to the fact that to
save expense the piers had been made too full of openings.
The emperor restored the piers and raised the dome twenty
feet." The church was again consecrated in the fifth year
after the catastrophe by Eutychius in the thirty-sixth year of
Justinian, on the 24th of December.2 Theophanes 3 describes
the emperor and patriarch as riding together to the church
in a chariot, and bearing the gospel with them, " while the
people chanted the * Lift up your gates.' "

The church, after its repair, is described by three con-
temporary authors — Paul the Silentiary, Agathias, and
Evagrius. The poem of the first of these is given in the
next chapter.

1 Theophanes, Chronographia^ ed. Bonn, vol. i., p. 359.

2 Chron. Pasch. ed. Bonn, and Zonaras.

3 Chron. ed. Bonn, p. 369.

3°

S. SOPHIA

Agathias. — Agathias, surnamed the scholar, was born in
536 at Myrina in Asia Minor,1 studied at Alexandria, and
came in 554 to Constantinople, where he became known as
a historian and a poet, and died in 582.

Justinian, he says, restored several buildings after the earth-
quake, his especial care however was the great church of
S. Sophia.2 " Now the former church having been burnt
by the angry mob, Justinian built it up again from the
foundations as big and more beautiful and wonderful, and
this most beautiful design was adorned with much precious
metal. He built it in a round form with burnt brick and
lime, it was bound together here and there with iron, but
they avoided the use of wood, so that it should no more be
easily burnt. Now Anthemius was the man who devised and
worked at every part.

"And as by the earthquake the middle portion of the roof
and the higher parts had been destroyed, the king made it
stronger, and raised it to a greater height. Anthemius was
then dead, but the young man Isidorus and the other crafts-
men, turning over in their minds the previous design, and
comparing what had fallen with what remained, estimated
where the error lay, and of what kind it was. They deter-
mined to leave the eastern and western arches {apsides) as
they were. But of the northern and southern (arches) they
brought towards the inside, that portion of the building
which was on the curve.3 And they made these arches wider
so as to be more in harmony with the others, thus making
the equilateral symmetry more perfect. In this way they
were able to cover the measurelessness of the empty space,
and to steal off some of its extent to form an oblong design.
And again they wrought that which rose up over it in the
middle, whether orb (kuklos), or hemisphere, or whatever
other name it may be called. And this also became more
straightforward and of a better curve, in every part agreeing
with the line ; and at the same time not so wide but higher,
so that it did not frighten the spectators as formerly, but was
set much stronger and safer."

1 Krumbacher, p. 49. 2 Agathias, lib. v. ed. Bonn, p. 296.

3 TYjV €7Tt TOV KVpTtoflClTOS oiKoSofiiav.

S. SOPHIA

Evagrius. — This historian was born in 536 a.d.1 at
Epiphania on the Orontes. In his Ecclesiastical History we
learn of the suffering caused by the invasion of Chosroes in
540. From this time all Syria was continually disturbed,
and the educated Christians fell back more and more on
Constantinople. Evagrius came to Constantinople in 589,
though he returned to Antioch afterwards. His history
commences with the Council of Ephesus in 431 and extends
to the year 593. He says 2 : —

" In the city of Constantinople Justinian constructed
many churches of wonderful beauty in honour of God, and
the saints among them was a great and incomparable work
of a kind that none like it was ever remembered — the great
church of S. Sophia; which excelling in beauty, far surpasses
power of description.

"As far as I can I will explain it. The nave (naos) of the
temple has a dome (tholos) over it spreading its weight on
four arches, raised to such a height, that to those looking
from below it is difficult to see the whole hemisphere. And
those who are above, however bold they are, never dare to
bend over and look on to the ground : and the arches are
open from the base up to their crown. On the right and
left however, opposite to one another, are ranged columns of
Thessalian marble. These with other neighbouring columns
carry upper chambers, which offer a place to lean forward
for those who wish. Here it is that the empress is wont to
attend service on festal days.

" But the arches to east and west are left so that nothing
interferes with admiration of their size. Now the arcades of
the just mentioned upper chambers are supported from
beneath by columns and small arches, which greatly add to
the work. In order that the wonder of this building may
be more easily grasped, I have here placed in feet the
measures of the length, breadth, and height ; and of the
arches their diameter and height. The length then from the
door opposite the holy apse, where is offered the bloodless
sacrifice, to the apse itself is 190 feet ; the breadth of the

1 Krumbacher, p. 53.

2 Hist. Eccles. iv., chap. 31.

JUSTINIAN'S CHURCH 33

nave from north to south is 115. The height from the
centre of the dome to the ground is 180 feet. And of the
arches, the width of each in feet is [no number given].
And the length from east to west is 200 feet. The width of
the opening is 75 feet.1 There are also to the west two fine
porticoes, and everywhere open courts of wonderful beauty."

Paul the Silentiary. — As this author's really detailed
account of the church is of considerable length, we have
reserved it for the next chapter, although it was written be-
fore the descriptions just given by Agathias and Evagrius.
For the little that is known of the author we are almost
entirely indebted to his friend Agathias, who says : " If any
one living perchance far from this city, wishes to know and
see everything as if present and looking on, let him read
what Paulus, son of Cyrus, son of Florus, has written in
hexameter verse ; he is chief of the Royal Silentiaries, and
sprung from a noble race ; inheriting ancestral wealth, yet
zealously brought up in the study of letters, by which he
was the more glorious and famous. He wrote a number of
other poems worthy of memory and praise, but it seems to
me that that which he wrote on the Great Church is com-
pleted with the most skill and labour, even as its subject is
more worthy than any other. For you will find in his poem
the arrangement of the form, and the nature of the stones
explained ; the beauty and purpose of the curtains ; the
lengths and heights, what is curved and what straight, what
projects and what is suspended. You will learn, too, how
with silver and gold the more sacred part, intended for the
divine mysteries, was adorned ; as well as whatever ornament
great or small is there, which those who frequent the church
may see."

The Silentiaries, of whom Paulus was one, were court
officials. Their office was an exalted one, as they ranked
with the senators, and were employed on all kinds of service,
not unfrequently becoming the historians of the emperor.
Paulus belonged to the cultivated and literary circle, who
during Justinian's reign interested themselves in literature,

1 The dimensions appear so inaccurate that we do not attempt to
explain them.

34 S. SOPHIA

and to him are attributed more than eighty poems in the
Anthology.1

The description or rather explanation of S. Sophia was
most probably written and recited as an Opening Ode at the
Encaenia of December 24th, 563. Kortum (in Salzen-
berg) conjectures that the poem was recited in "a hall of
the Imperial Palace," but Du Cange is probably more
correct in assigning only the first eighty lines to the Palace.
The succeeding lines he says " were addressed to the clergy in
the Patriarch's Palace," but we believe, from the antithesis
between the Palace of the Emperor and the House of God,
that the address to the patriarch was spoken within the
walls of the church itself, and that the whole poem, which is
divided into three parts, was written to be recited in con-
nection with the opening ceremony mentioned above.

It shows us how much architecture was esteemed by
Justinian, that the historian of his wars wrote also a history
of his buildings ; and the court poet was employed to cele-
brate the greatest of them in verse. On many accounts
the poem is the best ancient architectural description
extant. It is exact in accuracy, most orderly in its sequence
when read with a knowledge of the building, and must have
been written within its walls. A close and careful study
written when architectural ideas were in the ascendant — the
chief subject of thought in times of peace — it is no futile
attempt to explain a work of genius in terms of mechanics
and foot-rule measurements, after the manner of an archi-
tectural lecture, but it translates the ideas of the artist into
the words of the poet. The conceit of Homeric metre
and phrasing is almost a charm at this distance of time,
the poet's enthusiasm being quite sufficient to carry off the
affectation of attempting an architectural epic. It is not
however in its form but in its stimulus to imagination that
we see its chief value.

1 Salz. Alt. Baud,

CHAPTER III

THE SILENTIARY's POEM PART I

The first eighty lines of the Prelude are an eulogy on
the emperor. The succeeding lines were addressed to the
clergy. "We come to you, sirs, from the home of the
emperor, to the home of the Almighty Emperor, the
Deviser of the Universe, by whose grace victory cleaves to
our lord. The august head of our state lent a kindly ear
to our words, as he sat in the hall ; now we see the chief of
the sacred priests. May he too favour us, and may none of
those who listen carp at our words."

The poem itself, in long Homeric hexameters, begins by
describing the general peace throughout the Roman world
at the time of the restoration of S. Sophia Dr. Kortum
notes the following references to events only then recently
passed. The rule of the Vandals in Africa had been
destroyed by Belisarius (534), and a later insurrection
quelled (545) ; the reign of the Ostrogoths in the West had
come to an end (554), and peace had just been concluded
with the Persians (561). There is also an allusion to the
conspiracy of this same year, when an attempt was made on
the emperor's life.

The poet then, describing the ruin caused by the earth-
quake (558) at S. Sophia, tells us that "the very
foundations of the dome failed, and thick clouds of dust
darkened the midday sun. Yet the whole church did not
fall, but only the top of the eastern vault, and a portion of
the dome above. Part lay on the ground, part open to the

d 2

36 S. SOPHIA Hnes 152-223

light of day, hung suspended in the air." "But the
emperor soon began to build again, the Genius of New
Rome by his side."

When the emperor went to the ruins of the church he
praised the skilful craft of Anthemius ; " he it was who
laid the first foundations of the church, one skilled to draw
a circle or set out a plan.1 And he gave to the walls
strength to resist the pushing arches, which were like active
demons. This time it was not merely the crown of the arch
that gave way [see above, p. 28], for the very piers were
shaken to their foundations."

The poet now describes the building : " Whoever raises
his eyes to the beauteous firmament of the roof, scarce dares
to gaze on its rounded expanse sprinkled with the stare of
heaven, but turns to the fresh green marble below, seeming
as it were to see flower-bordered streams of Thessaly,
and budding corn, and woods thick with trees; leaping
flocks too and twining olive-trees, and the vine with green
tendrils, or the deep blue peace of summer sea, broken by
the plashing oars of spray-girt ship. Whoever puts foot
within the sacred fane, would live there for ever, and his eyes
well with tears of joy. Thus by Divine counsel, while
angels watched, was the temple built again.

" At last the holy morn had come, and the great door of
the new-built temple groaned on its opening hinges, inviting
emperor and people to enter ; and when the inner part was
seen sorrow fled from the hearts of all, as the sun lit the
glories of the temple. 'Twas for the emperor to lead the
way for his people, and on the morrow to celebrate the birth
of Christ. And when the first gleam of light rosy-armed
driving away the dark shadows, leapt from arch to arch,
then all the princes and people with one voice hymned their
songs of prayer and praise ; and as they came to the sacred
courts, it seemed to them as if the mighty arches were set in
heaven.

Apse and Exedras.—" Towards the East unfold triple spaces
of semicircular form ; and above, on an upright band^ of
wall, soars aloft the fourth part of a sphere. Even so, high

3 kcu KfVTpov IXeiv /ecu orxvf10- XaP^al'

lines 224-261 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM

over its back and triple crest, shimmer the tail feathers of a
peacock, with their countless eyes. These crowning parts men
learned in the builder's art call conchs ; and certain it is they
call them so from a shell of the sea, or 'tis a craftsman's
name.

Apse. — " The middle apse holds the stalls (thokoi) and steps
{bathra) ranged circle-wise. Some on the level of the ground
are massed close together round the centre ; and as they rise
higher, with the spaces between them, they widen out little
hy little, until they come to the stalls of silver. Thus with
increasing circles they ever wheel round a fixed circle in the
pavement.

Bema. — " Now the apse is separated [from the nave] by a
space between vertical walls built on strong foundations,
with an arch 1 above, not a portion of a sphere, but in the
form of a cylinder cleft in twain.

Exedras. — "And westwards again are two conchs on
columns, one on either side ; projecting as if stretching
out bent arms to embrace the people singing in the church.
They are borne by columns of porphyry, bright of bloom
ranged in semicircular line, and with capitals {karenoi) of
gold, carrying the weight of the arches {kukloi) above.
These columns were once brought from the cliffs of Thebes,
which stand, like greaved warriors, by the banks of Nile.
Thus, on two columns, on either side, rise the lower parts of
either exedra {apsis). And for the support of each, the
skilled workman has bent from below three small semi-
circular arches {apsides) ; and, beneath their springing, the
tops {kareata) of the columns are bound with well-wrought
bronze, overlaid with gold, which drives away all fear. Now
above the porphyry columns stand others from Thessaly,
splendid flowers of fresh green. Here are the fair upper
galleries for the women. These too have arches, as may be
seen from below, though they show six Thessalian columns
and not two. And one wonders at the power of him, who
bravely set six columns over two, and has not trembled to fix
their bases over empty air.2

1 av™£, the circular rim of a shield. Used here for the bema-arch.

2 Col umn does not stand directly over column.

S. SOPHIA

lines 262-27

" Now the workman has fenced all the spaces between the
Thessalian columns, with stone closures, on which the women
can lean and support their elbows. Thus as you raise your
gaze to the eastern arches [antuges) a never-ending wonder
appears.

Eastern Semidome. — "And upon all of them, above the
curved forms rises yet another vault {apsis), borne on the
air, raising its head aloft up to the wide-reaching arch, on
whose back are firmly fixed the lowest courses of the divine
head-piece (koros) of the centre of the church. Thus rises
on high the deep-bosomed vault, borne above triple voids
below ; and through fivefold openings, pierced in its back,
filled with thin plates of glass, comes the morning light
scattering sparkling rays.

Part II

Western End. — "And looking towards the sunset, one might
see the same as towards the dawn, though a portion differs.
For there in the centre it is not drawn round in a circle, as
on the eastern boundary, where sit the learned priests on
seats of resplendent silver, but at the west end is a vast
entrance (puleon) ; not only one door, but three.

Narthex. — "And outside of the doors (pulai) there stretches
a long porch {aulon), receiving beneath wide portals [thure-
troi) those that enter ; and it is as long as the wondrous
church is broad. In the Greek speech this part is called the
narthex. Here through the night swells the melodious
sound, pleasing to the ears of Him who giveth life to all ;
when the psalms of David are sung in antiphonal strains —
that sweet-voiced David, whom the divine voice of the
Almighty praised, and whose glorious posterity conceived
the sinless Son of God, who was in Virgin's pangs brought
forth, and subjected to a Mother's care. Now into this
porch open seven wide holy gates (puleones), inviting the
people to enter. One of them is on the south of the narrow
porch, and another opens to Boreas, but the others are
opened on creaking hinges by the doorkeeper {neokoros) in
the west wall. This wall is the end of the church.

lines 28-67 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM

" Whither am I carried ? What breeze has driven, like a
ship at sea, my errant speech? The very centre of the
famous church is all forgotten ; return, my muse, to see
the wonders scarcely to be believed when seen or heard.

The Four Piers. — " Alongside of the eastern and western
curves {kukloi) — the half-circles with their pairs of columns
from Thebes — stand four strong well-built piers {toichoi),
naked to look on in front, but on their sides and backs they
have supporting arches, and the four rest on strong founda-
tions of hard stones. In the joints the workman has mixed
and poured the dust of fireburnt stone, binding all together
with the builder's art.

"Above them spring measureless curved arches like the
many-coloured bow of Iris : one opens towards the home of
Zephyr, another to Boreas, another to Notus, and yet another
to the fiery Eurus. And every arch {an tux) has its foot at
either end fixed unshaken, and joined to the neighbouring
curves. But as each rises slowly in the air in bending line,
it separates from the other to which first it was joined.

The Pendentives. — " Now the part between these same
arches {apsides) is filled with wondrous skill. For where,
as needs must be, the arches bend away from one another,
and would have shown empty air, a curved wall, like a
triangle, grows over, touching the rim of the arches on either
side. And the four triangles, creeping over, spread out, until
they become united above the crown of each arch. The
middle portion of the arches, as much as forms the curved rim,
the builder's skill has formed with thin bricks {plinthoi), and
has thus made fast the topmost curves of the house of stone.

" Now in the joints they have put sheets of soft
lead, lest the stones, as they lie on one another, adding
weight to weight, should have their backs broken. Thus
with the lead inserted, the pressure is softened, and the stone
foundation is gently burdened.

Cornice of Dome. — " A rim {antux) curving round, is firmly
fixed on the backs (of the arches), where rests the base of the
hemisphere 1 ; this is the circle of the lowest course which

1 <r<l>aipr)s rjfivrofxoLo, the ^fxia-(f>aipiov of Agathias and Evagrius. This
word is used by Eusebius for the dome of the Holy Sepulchre.

S. SOPHIA

lines 68-1 13

they have set as a crown on the backs of the arches {apsides).
And just under the projecting firmament {kosmos), the
hanging stones form a narrow curved path, on which the man
who cares for the sacred lights can walk fearlessly, and trim
each in turn.

The Dome. — " And above all rises into the immeasurable
air the great helmet [of the dome], which, bending over,
like the radiant heavens, embraces the church. And at the
highest part, at the crown, was depicted1 the cross, the
protector of the city. And wondrous it is to see how the
dome gradually rises, wide below, and growing less as it
reaches higher. It does not however spring upwards to a
sharp point, but is like the firmament which rests on air,
though the dome is fixed on the strong backs of the arches."

(Here is a lacuna in the Greek text ; two broken lines,
94, 95, speak of "window openings made in the apses,
through which streams the splendour of the golden morning
light.")

" With dauntless pen I will describe what plan the emperor
devised for the broad church, and how, with builder's skill,
both the curves of the arches and the vault of the wide-
extended house were formed with thin bricks {plinthoi), and
raised on firm foundations. Thus the skilful master-man,
well versed in every craft, formed a ceiling to the lofty
nave. Yet he did not send to the hills of Phoenician
Lebanon, nor to search the dark woods of the Alpine crags,
nor where some Assyrian or Celtic woodman goads on the
oxen in dense forests, nor did he think to use fir {peuke) or
pine {elate) to roof the house. From neither the glades of
Daphne 2 by Ofontes, nor from the wooded crags of Patara 3
came cypress wood, to form a covering for the mighty
temple. For our noble king, since nature could produce no
timber great enough, had it covered with stones {lithoi) laid
in a round form. Thus on the four arches {apsides) rose,

1 Zypatpt leaves no doubt that a mosaic cross on the interior is intended,
and not, as Salzenberg suggests, a cross on the outside. The full expres-
sion for representations in mosaic was Karaypa.(p€Lv xpyjffihi : as in Joannes
Lydus (f55o), De Magistratibus ii. 20, in his description of the palace
built by the Praetorian Prefect.

2 Near Antioch. 3 A town of Lycia.

lines 114-154 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM 43

like a beauteous helmet, the deep-bosomed swelling roof
(kaluptra) : and it seems that the eye, as it wanders round,
gazes on the circling heavens. And beneath the two great
arches (apsides), to the east and to the west, you must know
that it is all open, and extended in the air.

" But towards the murmuring south wind and the cold dry
north, a wall, mighty in strength, rises to the under side of
the rounded arch (antux). Now this wall is made bright
with eight windows, and rests below on great props of
marble. For beneath it six columns, like the fresh green of
the emerald, in union support untired the weight of wall.
And these again are borne on strong columns fixed immovable
on the ground, glittering jewels of Thessalian marble, with
capitals above them like locks of golden hair. These separate
the middle portion of the glorious nave from the neighbour-
ing aisle (aithousd) that stretches alongside. Never were
such columns, blooming with a many-hued brightness,1 hewn
from the craggy hills of sea-washed Molossis.

North Aisle, Centre Division. — " And in the aisle itself, in
the middle space Anthemius of many crafts^ and with him
Isiodorus the wise, — for both of them, acting under the
will of the king, built the mighty church — have placed two
pairs of columns, and in measure they are less than those
others near them, but they are as bright with fresh green
bloom, and they came from the same quarry.

"Yet their bases are not placed in a row, one after the
other, but they stand on the pavement two facing two
opposite ; and above their capitals on fourfold arches (seireai)
rises the underside of the women's galleries. And close
by these columns on the north side is a door* admitting the
people to the founts that purify the stains of mortal life,
and heal every deadly scar.

" Thus on four columns of beautiful Thessalian stone, in
order, placed here and there, towards the twilight and to the
dawn, along the length of the aisle (aithousa) there curves a
weight of bending vaults (kulindroi) extending to the walls,
which are pierced with openings ; on the northern side they

1 avOos, a bud, sprout or flower ; hence brightness and bloom
generally.

4+ S. SOPHIA lines 1 89

lean on the spaces that join the twin windows,1 but on the
south, instead of windows are empty spaces like a
colonnade.

North Aisle, East and West Divisions. — "And again
towards the east and west stand two columns from Thes-
saly, with lofty crests, and twin piers (stemones) from
famous Proconnesus, fixed close by the doors. _ Towards
the east there is but one door, though on the side of the
cold north they walk through twain.

South Aisle. — " On the south you will see a long aisle as
on the north, yet made bigger. For a part is separated off
from the nave by a wall, and here the emperor takes his
accustomed seat on the solemn festivals, and listens to the
reading of the sacred books.

Gynaecea. — " And whoever mounts will find on both sides
of the church the aisles for women similar to those below,
and there is yet another, though not like those on either
side, above the narthex.

Atrium. — " Now on the western side of this divine church
you will see a great open court (aule) surrounded by four
cloisters. One of these joins on to the narthex, but the
others spread round the sides, where stand their several
paths. In the very centre of the wide garth stands a
spacious phiale, cleft from the Iassian peaks; and from it
bubbling water gushes forth and throws a stream into the
air, leaping up from the pressure of the brazen pipe—a
stream that purges away all suffering, when the _ people, in
the month of the golden vestments 2 at the mystic feast of
Christ, draw the unsullied waters in vessels by night. And
the water shows the power of God ; for never will you find
decay on its surface, even if it remains in its vessel, and away
from the fountain for more than a year.3

" Everywhere the walls glitter with wondrous designs, the
stone for which came from the quarries of seagirt Procon-

1 dvperpos is elsewhere a door. But "twin doors" has no meaning
here. See plan.

2 January ; the consuls then entered on their year of office, and wore
chitons of gold thread. See Du Cange, S. Sophia, § 22.

8 This custom at Antioch is mentioned as early as the time of S. John
Chrysostom in a sermon on the Baptism of Christ.

lines 190-234 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM 45

nesus. The marbles are cut and joined like painted
patterns, and in stones formed into squares or eight-sided
figures the veins meet to form devices ; and the stones show
also the forms of living creatures.

"And on either side along the flanks and outskirts {antuges)
of the beautiful church, you would see open courts (aulai).
These were all planned about the building with cunning
skill, that it might be bathed all round by the bright light
of day.

The Marbles. — "Yet who, even in the measures of Homer,
shall sing the marble pastures gathered on the lofty walls
and spreading pavement of the mighty church ? These the
iron with its metal tooth has gnawed — the fresh green from
Carystus, and many-coloured marble from the Phrygian
range, in which a rosy blush mingles with white, or it shines
bright with flowers of deep red and silver. There is a
wealth of porphyry too, powdered with bright stars, that
has once laden the river boat on the broad Nile. You
would see an emerald green from Sparta, and the glittering
marble with wavy veins, which the tool has worked in the
deep bosom of the Iassian hills, showing slanting streaks
blood-red and livid white. From the Lydian creek came
the bright stone mingled with streaks of red. Stone too
there is that the Lybian sun, warming with his golden light,
has nurtured in the deep-bosomed clefts of the hills of the
Moors, of crocus colour glittering like gold ; and the
product of the Celtic crags, a wealth of crystals, like milk
poured here and there on a flesh of glittering black. There
is the precious onyx, as if gold were shining through it:
and the marble that the land of Atrax yields, not from some
upland glen, but from the level plains ; in parts fresh green
as the sea or emerald stone, or again like blue cornflowers
in grass, with here and there a drift of fallen snow, — a sweet
mingled contrast on the dark shining surface.

Sec tile and carved Spandrils. — "Before I come to the glitter
of the mosaic,1 I must describe how the mason (laotoros),
weaving together with skill thin slabs of marble, has
figured on the flat surface of the walls intertwining curves

1 i/^tSes — pebbles. The usual word for mosaic tesserae.

S. SOPHIA

lines 234-269

laden with plenteous fruit, and baskets, and flowers, and birds
sitting on the twigs. And the curved pattern of a twining
vine with shoots like golden ringlets, weaves a winding
chain of clusters; little by little does it put forth shoots,
until it overshadows all the stone near with ripples like
beauteous tresses. Such ornament as this surrounds the
church.

The Capitals. — "And the lofty crest of every column,
beneath the marble abacus (peze)> is covered with many a
supple curve of waving acanthus — a wandering chain of
barbed points all golden, full of grace. Thus the marble in
bulging forms crowns the deep red columns, as wool the
distaff ; the stone glittering with a beauty that charms the
heart.

The Floor. — "And gladly have the hills of Proconnesus
bent their backs to necessity, and strewed the floor with
marble. In parts too shimmers the polish of the Bosporus
stone, with white streaks on black.

The Mosaic. — "Now the vaulting is formed of many a
little square (psephos) of gold cemented together. And
the golden stream of glittering rays pours down and strikes
the eyes of men, so that they can scarcely bear to look.
One might say that one gazed upon the midday sun in
spring, what time he gilds each mountain height.

Iconostasis.—uO\xv emperor has levied from the whole
earth, and brought together the wealth of the barbarians of
the west ; for as he did not deem stone a fitting adornment
for the divine, eternal temple, on which [New] Rome has
centred the expectancy of joy; he has not spared enrich-
ments of silver, and so the ridge of Pangaeus 1 and
the height of Sunium 2 have opened all their silver veins,
and many treasure-houses of our subject kings have yielded
their stores.

"For as much of the great church by the eastern arch as
was set apart for the bloodless sacrifices, no ivory, no stone,
nor bronze distinguishes, but it is all fenced with the silver
metal. Not only upon the walls, which separate the holy

1 In Macedonia. The mines are mentioned by Herodotus.

2 The promontory on the south of Attica. The mines were at Laurium.

lines 270-310 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM 47

priests from the crowd of singers,1 has he placed mere plates
of silver, but he has covered all the columns themselves
with the silver metal, even six sets of twain ; and the
rays of light glitter far and wide. Upon them the tool
has formed dazzling circles, beautifully wrought in skilled
symmetry by the craftsman's hand, in the centre of which is
carved the symbol of the Immaculate God, who took upon
Himself the form of man. In parts stand up an army of
winged angels in pairs, with bent necks and downcast mien
(for they could not gaze upon the glory of the Godhead,
though hidden in the form of man to clear man's flesh from
sin). And elsewhere the tool has fashioned the heralds of
the way of God, even those by whose words were noised
abroad, before He took flesh upon Him, the divine tidings
of the Anointed One. Nor had the craftsman forgotten
the forms of those others, whose childhood was with the
fishing-basket and the net ; but who left the mean labours
of life and unholy cares to bear witness at the bidding of a
heavenly king, fishing even for men, and forsaking the skill
of casting nets to weave the beauteous seine of eternal life.
In other parts art has limned (kategraphe) the Mother of
Christ, the vessel of eternal Light, whose womb brought
Him forth in holy travail.

"But on the middle panels of the sacred screen, which
forms the barrier for the priests, the carver's art has cut one
letter that means many words, for it combines the name of
our king and queen. And he has also wrought a form like
a shield with a boss, showing the cross in the middle parts.
And through the triple doors the screen opens to the
priests. For on each side the skilful hand of the workman
has made small doors.

The Ciborium. — "And above the all-holy table of gold
rises in the air a tower (purgos) indescribable, reared on
fourfold arches of silver. And it is borne aloft on silver
columns, on whose tops every arch rests its silver feet.
And above the arches rises a figure like a cone, yet it is not
complete. For at the bottom its edge (antux) does not
turn round in the circular form, but has an eight-sided base,

1 TroXvyXwarcrolo 6fii\ov, the choir.

S. SOPHIA

lines 3 1 1— 35+

and from a broad plan it gradually diminishes to a sharp
point, having eight sides of silver. And at the juncture ot
each to other is, as it were, a long backbone {rachis) which
seems to join with the triangular faces of the eight-sided
form, and rises to a single crest, where is artfully wrought
the form of a cup. And the edges of the cup bend over
and assume the form of leaves, and in the midst of it has
been placed a shining silver globe, and the cross surmounts
it all. May it be an omen of peace ! But above the arches
many a curve of acanthus twines round the lower part of
the cone, and the plant shows sharp projections which rise
up from the groundwork like the fruit of a fragrant pear,
glittering with light.

" Now where the fitted edges join the flat base are fixed
and set bowls of silver. And in each cup stands as it were a
candle, though it is a glittering symbol not made of wax,
and beauty flashes from them and not light. For they are
made round of silver, brightly polished. Thus the candle
flashes a silver ray not the light of fire.

The Altar. — "And on columns of gold is raised the all
gold slab 1 of the holy table, standing on gold foundations,
and bright with the glitter of different stones.

"Whither am I carried? whither tends my unbridled
speech ? Let my voice be silent, and not lay bare what is
not meet for the eyes of the people to see.

Altar Curtains. — " But, ye priests, as the sacred laws com-
mand you, spread out the curtain dipped in the red dye of
the Sidonian shell and cover the sacred table. Unfold the
veils (kaluptrai) hanging on the four sides of silver, and
show to the countless crowd a multitude of beautiful designs
in gold of skilful handiwork. On one side is cunningly
wrought the form of Christ. And this was not worked by
skilful hands plying the needle on the stuff, but by the web,
the produce of the worm 2 from distant lands, changing its
coloured threads of many shades. A garment shimmering
with gold, like the rays of rosy-fingered dawn, flashes down
to the divine knees, and a chiton, deep red from the Tyrian

1 vwtov, a back, and hence, any wide, flat surface.

2 fivpfir]^, the ant ; here the silkworm.

lines 355-398 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM

shell dye, covers the right shoulder beneath its well-woven
web. The veiling upper robe has slipped away, and pulled
up across the side it only covers the left shoulder, while the
forearm and the hand are bare. He seems to point the
fingers of the right hand, as if preaching the words of Life,
and in the left hand He holds the book of the divine message,
— the book that tells what the Messiah accomplished when
his foot was on the earth. And the whole robe shines with
gold ; for on it a thin gold thread is led through the web, as
if a fair chain was laid on the cloth in a groove or channel
and bound with silken thread by sharp needles. And on
either side stand the two messengers of God — Paul, full of
divine wisdom, and also the mighty doorkeeper of the Gates
of Heaven, binding with both heavenly and earthly chains.
One holds the book pregnant with sacred words, and the
other the form of a cross on a staff of gold. And both the
cunning web has clothed in robes of silver white, and over
their sacred heads rises upward a temple of gold, with triple
apses fixed on four columns of gold.

" Now on the extreme borders of the curtain shot with gold,
unspeakable art has figured the works of mercy of our city's
kings ; here one sees hospitals for the sick, there sacred
fanes, while on either side are displayed the miracles of
Christ ; such is the grace and beauty of the work.

" But on the other curtains you see the kings of the earth
on one side with their hands joined to those of the Virgin,
on the other side with those of Christ, and all is cunningly
wrought by the threads of the woof with the sheen of a
golden warp. Thus is everything adorned with splendour.
Thus may you see all that fills the eyes with wonder.

The Lighting. — " No words can describe the light at night-
time ; one might say in truth that some midnight sun
illumined the glories of the temple. For the wise fore-
thought of our king has had stretched from the projecting
rim (antux) of stone, on whose back is firmly planted the
temple's air-borne dome, long twisted chains (seirai) of
beaten brass, linked in alternating curves with many windings.
And these chains, bending down from every part in a long
course, come together as they fall towards the ground. But

S. SOPHIA

lines 399-439

before they reach the pavement, their path from above is
checked, and they finish in unison on a circle.

" And beneath each chain he has caused to be fitted silver
discs, hanging circle-wise in the air, round the space in the
centre of the church. Thus these discs, pendent from their
lofty courses, form a coronet above the heads of men. They
have been pierced too by the weapon of the skilful workman,
in order that they may receive shafts 1 of fire-wrought glass,
and hold light on high for men at night.

" And not from discs alone does the light shine at night,
but in the circles close by a disc you would see the symbol
of the mighty cross, pierced with many holes, and in its
pierced back shines a vessel of light. Thus hangs the
circling chorus of bright lights. Verily you might say that
you gazed on the bright constellation of the Heavenly
Crown by the Great Bear, and the neighbouring Dragon.

"Thus through the temple wanders the evening light,
brightly shining. In the middle of a larger circle you
would find a crown with lightbearing rim ; and above in
the centre another noble disc spread its light in the air, so
that night is compelled to flee.

" Near the aisles too, alongside the columns, they have hung
in order single lamps {lampter) apart one from another ; and
through the whole length of the far-stretching nave is their
path. Beneath each they have placed a silver vessel, like a
balance pan, and in the centre of this rests a cup of well-
burning oil.

" There is not however one equal level for all the lamps,
for you may see some high, some low, in comely curves of
light ; and from twisted chains they sweetly flash in their
aerial courses, even as shines twin-pointed Hyas fixed in the
forehead of Taurus.

"One might also see ships of silver, bearing a flashing
freight of flame, and plying their lofty courses in the liquid
air- instead of the sea, fearing no gale from south-west, nor
from Bootes, sinking late to rest. And above the wide floor
you would see shapely beams (with lamps), running between

1 ovpiaxos. Used in Homer of the butt end of a spear ; hence long
narrow glass lamps. See our Fig. 17.

lines 440-484 THE SILENTIARY'S POEM

two-horned supports of iron, by whose light the orders
of priests, bound by the rubrics, perform their duties.

" Some there are along the floor, where the columns have
their bases, and above again others pass, by far-reaching
courses, along the crowning work of the walls. Neither is
the base of the deep-bosomed dome left without light, for
along the projecting stone of the curved cornice the skilful
workman suspends single lamps to bronze stakes. As when
some handmaid binds round the neck of a royal virgin a-
graceful chain shining with the glitter of fiery gold ; even
so has our emperor fixed round all the cornice lights iifc
circle-wise, companions everywhere to those below.

"There is also on the silver columns [of the Iconostasis],
above their capitals* a narrow way of access for the lamp-
lighter, glittering with bright clusters ; these one might
compare to the mountain-nourished pine, or cypress with'
fresh branches. From a point ever-widening circles spread'
down until the last is reached, even that which curves round
the base ; instead of a root, bowls of silver are placed
beneath the trees, with their flaming flowers. And in the
centre of this beauteous wood, the form of the divine cross,
pierced with the prints of the nails, shines with light for
mortal eyes.

" A thousand others within the temple show their gleaming
light, hanging aloft by chains of many windings. Some are
placed in the aisles, others in the centre or to east and West, or
on the crowning walls, shedding the brightness of flame. Thus
the night seems to flout the light of day, and be itself as
rosy as the dawn. And whoever gazes on the lighted trees,
with their" crown of circles, feels his heart warmed with joy ;
and looking on a boat1 swathed with fire, or some single
lamp, or the symbol of the Divine Christ, all care vanishes
from the mind. So with wayfarers through a cloudless night,
as they see the stars rising from point to point ; one watches
sweet Hesperus, another's attention is fixed on Taurus, and a
third contemplates Bootes, or Orion and the cold Charles'
Wain; the whole heaven, scattered with glittering stars, opens
before them, while the night seems to smile on their way.

] i-iraKTpts, a small row-boat.

E 2

S. SOPHIA

lines 485-503

" Thus through the spaces of the great church come rays of
light, expelling clouds of care, and filling the mind with joy.
The sacred light cheers all: even the sailor guiding his bark
on the waves, leaving behind him the unfriendly billows of
the raging Pontus, and winding a sinuous course amidst
creeks and rocks, with heart fearful at the dangers of his
nightly wanderings — perchance he has left the iEgean and
guides his ship against adverse currents in the Hellespont,
awaiting with taut forestay the onslaught of a storm from
Africa — does not guide his laden vessel by the light of
Cynosure, or the circling Bear, but by the divine light of
the church itself. Yet not only does it guide the merchant
at night, like the rays from the Pharos on the coast of Africa,
but it also shows the way to the living God."

CHAPTER IV

THE AMBO

The third part of the description of the Silentiary is
devoted to the ambo, the chief feature in Justinian's rein-
statement of the interior. It stood far out from the bema,
on the central axis of the church. Germanus, Patriarch
of Constantinople from 715-740 a.d., and Simeon of
Thessalonica both speak of this as the right position
for ambones ; " the most holy bema should be towards
the east, with the ambo in front of it, if there is room." 1
The two flights of steps, by which the ambo — the name of
which is derived from the Greek for ascending — was reached,
were on the east and west sides. In the ambo the Gospel
was read, and here was recited a prayer 2 at the conclusion of
the liturgy, which seems to have been a compendium of those
previously uttered in the sanctuary ; the priest left the bema,
ascended the ambo on the east side, and prayed with his face
towards the west. Important offices in coronations were also
performed here.

Paulus' description of the ambo opens with a preface of
thirty iambic lines in praise of the emperor, who has added
the " one thing needful to our all-glorious church." The
importance of this work is made an excuse for interrupting
the " usual pursuits of his hearers even for a third time."
Twenty hexameter lines are devoted to an invocation to the
apostles and saints, and then follows the description of the
ambo.

1 See Du Cange, S. Sophia, § 70.

2 Called om.ordd.fifiwvo's evxv> the " back " of the ambo.

5 +

S. SOPHIA

lines 50-75

" Now in the central space of the wide temple, yet tending
rather towards the east, rises a tower (purgos), fair to look
upon, set apart for the reading of the sacred books. Up-
right it stands on steps, reached by two flights, one of which
stretches towards the west, but the other towards the dawn.
So are they opposite to one another, and both lead to a space
formed like a circle. Now one stone curves round to form
this circular space, though it is not altogether equal to a
complete curve (tomos), but it agrees with it except where

the edge of the
stone is length-
ened ; for towards
east and west a
flight of steps is
drawn out like a
neck, projecting
from the circled
stone.

"And up to the
height of a man's
girdle our godlike
king has formed,
with the help of
silver, beauteous
walls curving like
crescents. He has
not bent silver
right round the
stone, but a silver
plaque (plax) is

spread out in the centre, to adorn the circling wall. Thus
has the skilful workman spread out two sure crescents and
opened on either side a flight of steps.

" Nor does fear seize those descending the sacred steps, be-
cause the sides are unfenced ; for hedge walls of glittering
marble have been reared there ; and they are high above the
steps for the hand of a man to hold as he mounts, grasping
them to ease his way ; so on each side they grow upwards in
a rising line, and stop at length with the steps which are

Fig. 7. — Plan of the Ambo both above and below.

lines 76-120 THE AMBO 55

between them. Thus good use is made of the stone ; for
they have quarried savage hill, and steep promontory, to have
a far-stretching safeguard to the long flight. And the whole
is cunningly wrought with skilful workmanship, and glitters
with ever-changing brightness. In parts it seems that whirl-
pools eddy over the surface, intertwining circles winding
under the wandering curves of other circles. In parts is seen
a rosy bloom, mingled with wan paleness, or fair gleams of
light, as from bright spearheads ; in other places shines a
softer glory, like the radiance of boxwood, or the delightsome
bees-wax, which mortal men ofttimes lay on the unsullied
cliffs, and turn over beneath the rays of the sun, while it
changes to a silver white ; yet not completely altering its
substance, it still shows veins of gold. Even so the deep-
stained ivory of many a year's growth expands its gleaming
flesh on the curved breast. At times it seems to have a pale
green hue. Yet the craftsman has not left it pallid and un-
adorned, for he has fixed it in fair and cunningly wrought
designs on the stone. Thus over all in many a curve its
beauty is displayed. In parts the broad surface is tinged
with the choicest tint of the pale crocus, or appears almost
without colour, like light creeping round the pointed horns
of the new-born moon.

« Now near a rocky hill stands the sacred city — Hierapolis

which gives its name to a well-known marble ; and of this

is made all the fair floor of the place where they read the
divine wisdom of the holy books ; and it is fitted by the
craftsmen's skill on eight cunningly wrought columns. Two
of these are towards the north, two towards the southern
wind, two towards the east, and two towards the home of
evening. Thus is the floor raised up. And beneath there
is as it were another space, where the priests continue their
sacred song. The stone is a covering to those below, but
above it is like a spreading plain, untouched by the feet of
mortals. And the underside the mason (laotomos) has cut
out and hollowed, so that, by the craftsmen's skill, it rises
from the capitals, curving over like the hollow shell-back of
the tortoise, or some oxhide shield held up over the helmet,
when the warrior leaps in the mazes of the Pyrrhic dance.

56 S. SOPHIA lines 121-167

^ " Now the rugged surface (metopon) of the stone they have
girdled everywhere with the silver metal ; and there the
skilled workman, cutting, with the point of his iron, twining
foliage and lovely flowers, has inlaid the beauteous leaves of
ivy, with its clusters and budding shoots.

" But with all its steps and floor and the columns as well, the
artificers have formed for it a fixed foundation, and raised a
base (krepis), the height of a man's foot, above the floor of
the church ; and in order that they might widen the founda-
tion of the space they have placed on either side, round the
belly {gaster) in the middle, half-circles in stone, and they
have surrounded the space with separate columns arranged in
semicircles. Thus the whole belly is widened by means of
four rich columns on either side, to north, and to south ; and
the cave space (speos), like a house, is surrounded on all sides
by a fence of circling stone.

" Some of the fair columns that the masons have set up are
from the Phrygian land, towards the Mygdonian heights,
hewn with strong axes : and looking on these flowers of stone,
one would say that white lilies mingled with rose cups, or the
soft petals of the shortlived anemone. Here is abundance of
red and a mere tinge of white, there thin sinews mix with the
veins which dye the columns deep red, as with drops from the
Laconian shell.

"First then at the bottom they have placed the fairly
wrought plinth (krepis) supporting all, made beautiful with
twisting curves ; and above it they have set stone bases, firmly
fixed, cut from the rich quarries of the Bosporus. Quite
white, they glitter, and in branching veins a deep blue line
wanders in the shining flesh. And the bases on the eight
sides the mason has adorned with moulded bronze rings fixed
circlewise round each base, as round a neck. And through
the space of the whole church shines the glory of each column
fixed on its polished base, like a white cloud wrought into
patterns by the ruddy rays of the rising sun.

" Thus are ranged in half-circles the company of four, and
this half with the other four they have connected by a fair
chiton of stone, even round the well-formed hollow (antron) ;
for the three spaces between the four columns have been

lines 168-212

THE AMBO

closed by the skilful mason with fencestones of marble from
Hierapolis, firmly fixed on the plinth (krepis). And it is
meet that this crown of stone on the fair floor of the sacred
fane should be called of ' the Holy City ' (Hierapolis). In
the boundary is placed a door, slightly curved, through which
enters the priest, to the floor of the hollow cavern (antron).

" Now you must know that the curve (spelunx), with
columns, and plinth (krepis) , and fence wall, is alike on either
side, towards Garamas on the south and towards Arimaspus
[to the north]. But the doors the workmen have not fixed
in like places, but one is westwards and the other eastwards —
the western one inclines towards the north, but the southern
gate is towards the east. Moreover the fence-walls do not
stand the same height as the columns, but they rise above the
beauteous pavement, as much as to hide a man in the hollow
space (antron), But the eight columns with fair carved
capitals come out above the fence wall, and stand round it on
the base with equal spaces between them, even on the stone
plinth. The capitals shine with gold, like high peaks which
the golden-rayed sun strikes with its arrows.

" And all the capitals on high are crowned above in circled
order by an embracing rim of beams (douratea an tux) ^ which
binds the columns together in one curve, though at the same
time each column is separate from its fellow. And fixed
upon the rim you might see trees, with clusters as of fire, —
the glitter of silver boughs shining afar. Nor does each
sapling wander at will, but it is restrained in a cone-like form
of many edges, from a wide circle ever lessening to a point
at the top. Now the fair girdle (zoster) that forms the rim
is all crowned with golden ivy-leaves, and coloured with
the sapphire dust. But towards the home of Zephyr, and
also towards the fiery-winged Eurus, there are fixed upon the
rim (an tux) two crosses of silver, with a curved spike (helos)
above each, bending like a shepherd's crook, flashing a thou-
sand lights to the eyes.

" In this manner is the shining ambo made ; thus have they
called it * the place ascended ' (ambatos), by holy paths, and
here the people direct their eyes, as they gaze on the divine
gospel.

S. SOPHIA

lines 213-255

" And it is to good purpose that they have placed the cut
stones in steps, on whose white surface one might descry thin
veins of deep red like the dye of the sea-shell. For the un-
polished stones the mason has hewn into a long flight (rachis)
of steps, a strong support for the feet of men, lest any one
slipping from above and falling should descend all unsteady
to the floor ; thus in order and in continuous line one stone,
as it rises above another, recedes from it, even as much as a
man ascending plants one step in turn in front of another.

'* And as an island rises amidst the swelling billows, bright
with patterns of cornfields, and vineyards, and blossoming
meadows, and wooded heights, while sailors, as they steer by
it, are gladdened, and the troubles and anxieties of the sea
are beguiled ; so in the middle space of the boundless temple
rises upright the tower-like ambo of stone, with its marble
pastures like meadows, cunningly wrought with the beauty of
the craftsman's art. Yet though it stands in the middle, it is
not quite cut off", like an island girdled by the sea, but is
rather like some wave-washed land, extended by a narrow
isthmus through the gray billows into the middle of the sea,
and were it not for this binding chain, it would be cut off
and seen as a true island ; but though it projects into the
ocean, it is still joined to the mainland coast by the isthmus,
as by a cable. /

" Such is the ambo ; for a long path starts from the last
step of its eastern flight, and stretches out until it comes to
the space by the twin silver doors, even striking with its
lengthy plinth the fence wall of the sacred rites ; and the
path is warded on both sides by walls. Now for these fence
walls they have not placed lofty slabs, but they are as high
up as the navel of a man standing by them ; and here the
priest, as he holds the golden gospel, passes along, and the
surging crowd strive to touch the sacred book with their
lips and hands, while moving waves of people break around.

" Thus is this path prolonged like an isthmus, wave-washed
on either side, and it leads the priest as he descends from the
distant ambo with its lofty cliffs, to the shrine of the holy
table. And the whole path on both sides is fenced with the
fresh green stone of Thessaly ; and the abundant rich

lines 256-299

THE AMBO

meadows of the stones bring the delight of beauty to the
eyes. Now at both ends of each slab from Thessaly stand
posts of equal height, not like a cylinder in form : one
skilled in figures would say that the posts were not equal-
sided, but have the shape of a lengthened cube. And the
masons {laotoroi) have made the joints of the Molossian slabs,
by wedging one stone into another ; it is from the Phrygian
land that the stone-cutter (laotupos) has had these posts
quarried. And resting the wandering glance there one might
see snake-like coils twining over the fair marble, winding in
beauteous paths ; there white and fiery red are set alongside
of one another and a flesh colour between both, the lines
bending in alternating coils, as they roll round in their
courses. First on one side, then on another, are seen the
forms of the moon and stars.

« And on the uppermost rim of the fence wall they have
fitted another long stretching stone, quarried from the same
foreland crag, so that the Thessalian slab is fixed below on
the firm foundations of the plinth, and is bound above by
another band of marble ; and the edges of the Thessalian
slabs are joined together as in a chain by the square
columns, which are set upright and firm on the founda-
tion.

" And as when one winds the gold twisted thread in and
out over the many-coloured surface of a Tyrian robe, and
adds a fitting pattern round the bottom edges, or in the fair
centre of the robe, or about the sleeve-holes for the arms
while the fresh green web of the cloak shines like a
meadow in spring, — the glory of the golden warp adding
beauty to beauty, and decking it as if with flowers ; even so
the cunning workman has cast on the fresh green stones of
the sacred rock the glitter of golden rays, giving a brighter
beauty to them.

"But at the eastern end of the passage, by the holy fence
walls of the altar, they have cut off the isthmus, so as to form
a speedier path for those who pass from side to side.

" Such works as these has our emperor, bestowing splendid
gifts, built for God the King. For to the great bounties of
his peaceful reign he has added this much-praised temple, so

S. SOPHIA

that with divine foresight he might prepare a gift for the
Creator of the world, Christ, King of All. Be thou, O glory
of the eternal Trinity, thrice favourable to this city of Rome,
to our citizens, our emperor, and our much-loved temple."

In following this description we see that it begins on
the raised floor of the ambo which was rounded on two
sides, the others being open to the steps at the east and west.
The breast wall on each side was largely covered with applied
silver wrought into patterns ; and the rest, together with
the parapet slabs to the steps, were inlaid in ivory, probably
carved like the contemporary bishop's throne at Ravenna.
The body of the ambo inlaid thus with ivory and silver was
upheld on eight columns, the underside of the floor stone
being hollowed into a flat dome like the fluted soffite of the
still older ambo at S. Apollinare at Ravenna. On either
side, around the ambo, was a semicircle of large columns of
rosy-veined Synnada marble on white bases with bronze
annulets and gilt capitals ; between the columns breast-
high slabs of Hierapolis marble inclosed a space. The
circle of columns stood on a raised step, and above they were
bound together by a carved beam, the pattern being gilt
with the interspaces painted in ultramarine. On this to east
and west stood silver crosses ; their upper limbs " bent like
shepherds' crooks" doubtless formed the XP monogram.
Silver candelabra, cones of diminishing circles, stood round
about on the top of the beam. From the eastern steps a
passage way ran back to the step of the iconostasis,
inclosed on both sides by marble slabs grooved into posts,
bearing a top rail. This closure of Verde antique slabs was
inlaid in white and red patterns and gold mosaic.

In this description two separate parts appear, the ambo
proper reached by the narrow inclosed way and ascended by
steps ; and the space entered by two doors screened off about
it by the circle of large columns and closure slabs, " where
the priests continue their sacred song." So in Constantine
Porphyrogenitus' Book of the Ceremonies1 we read of the
" psaltae " placed in the ambo singing, " Christ is risen."
1 Ed. Bonn, p. 74. See also our page 79.

THE AMBO

We know little of the later history of the ambo. The
Anonymous Author, who probably wrote not earlier than the
twelfth century, comparing the mythical splendour of an
earlier ambo destroyed by a fall of the dome to another
which he attributes to Justinian's nephew, Justin, says they
made the latter of marble, with columns covered with silver,
and with silver screens going round the solea. It had no
dome. Immediately after he compares the pavement which
he says was destroyed at the same time with one that now is.
So that we may assume that he wrote of an ambo then
existing, and that therefore in this instance he may be
trusted.1 The work attributed to Justin by the Anonymous
is really the restoration under Justinian ; he seems to have
confused the nephew of the architect who was then employed
with the nephew of the emperor. Rohault De Fleury,2 who
accepts this story, suggests that a canopied ambo which
appears in the Menologium of Basil (976-1025) figures one
in S. Sophia which may have replaced the former ambo
after the fall of the dome in 975. Robert de Clari (1200)
merely says, " The place from which they read the Gospel is
so rich and noble, that we do not know how to describe the
making of it." 3 The ambo of that time was destroyed by
the Crusaders ( 1 203). 4 Clavijo, the Spanish ambassador, who
saw S. Sophia two hundred years later, has left this descrip-
tion of the covered ambo then existing. " On the floor in
the centre of the area is a pulpit placed on four columns
of jasper ; and the sides of it are overlaid with panels
of jasper of many colours, and this pulpit is surmounted
by a cover, which stands on eight very large jasper
columns ; and here they preach and read the Gospel on
feast days."

Coronations. — We shall now quote two descriptions of the
ceremonies associated with the ambo at coronations. These
are of the age of the Palaeologi, and the first is especially

1 See Nicetas also on our p. 75.

2 La Messe., Art. "Ambon," vol. iii., p. 9.

3 Hopf, Chroniques Greco-Romanes, p. 96.

4 See our p. 75.

S. SOPHIA

interesting as describing the Megale Eisodos and the
Celebration.

" And about the second hour of the same day the prince
who is to be anointed is set upon a shield ; 1 the reigning
emperor, who may be his father, and the patriarch take
hold of the front part of the shield, which is also held by
the officials of rank and the nobility. They then raise it, and
show the new emperor to the assembled populace. After he
has been greeted with acclamation, they attend him into the
church, where the rest of the ceremony must be completed.
Now a little edifice of wood has previously been prepared for
this very purpose, into which they lead the new emperor, and
put on him the purple and the diadem, which have been blest
by the bishops. And round his head it is customary to put
only a chaplet. After this the service of the Mass {mustagogia)
proceeds. And near the erection just mentioned a set of
movable steps, also of wood, are prepared, and these they
cover with purple silk. And upon it are placed golden
thrones, according to the number of the princes, not like
other thrones, but raised on four or five steps ; here the
princes take their seats. The princesses also ascend with
them, and sit on the thrones, wearing their crowns, but she
that is about to be crowned wears a chaplet. Now before
the hymn Trisagion is sung, the patriarch comes out of the
bema and ascends the ambo, and with him are the rulers of
the church, all wearing their sacred robes. He then dis-
misses them, and summons the princes, and they immediately
arise from their thrones and come to the ambo, while profound
silence is kept by the whole congregation. Then the patriarch
goes through the prayers appointed for the anointing, some
silently by himself, others out loud, praying for the blessing
of God on him who is about to be anointed. After this the
new emperor removes from his head whatever he is wearing,
and then it is right for all, as many as are present, to stand
with bared heads. Then the patriarch with the holy oil
anoints the head of the emperor with the form of the cross,
saying with a loud voice * Holy ' ; and as soon as they hear
it those standing on the ambo pronounce it three times, and
1 Cantacuzenus, Hist. lib. i., chap. 41, ed. Bonn, p. 196.

THE AMBO

after them all the people. After this the crown is brought
by deacons from the bema where they keep it (now it is not
above the Holy Table as some say), and taken to the ambo.
If any previously crowned emperor be there, he and the
patriarch take the crown together, and place it on the head
of the prince, the patriarch saying 4 Holy ' in a loud voice.
Those in the ambo repeat it three times, and the people, as
after the anointing. Then the patriarch repeats some more
prayers, and the prince descends from the ambo, not on the
side by which he ascended, but on the side which is turned
towards the solea. If he is unmarried he then ascends the
steps and reseats himself upon his throne, but if he has a
wife then she also must be crowned. She is then led, as she
rises from the throne, by two kinswomen one on either side,
or if she has no relatives, eunuchs lead her down from the
steps, and stand with her before the solea. Then the
emperor descends from the ambo, and takes the crown held
ready by the kinswomen or eunuchs, and places it upon the
head of his wife, and she kneels before her husband, swearing
fealty to him. And the patriarch, standing by the solea,
offers up a prayer for the emperor and empress, and all their
people. Thus the emperor crowns his own wife. And then
both ascend the steps, and sit upon their thrones, and the
rest of the mysteries are proceeded with. But at the sing-
ing of the T risagion, or at the reading from the apostolic
writings, or the Gospels, they stand up.

" And on both sides of the nave, on wooden steps made for
this purpose, are those called protopsaltae, and domestici,
and others of ecclesiastical rank who know how to sing,
and who are called because of this kraktai ; 1 all these sing
anthems especially made for the occasion. But when the
part of the mysteries which is called The Great Entrance 2 is
beginning, the chief of the deacons comes and summons the
emperor, and he comes with them into the prothesis, where

1 A shortened form of KCKjoetKTai.

2 rj ixeydXr) eia-oSo9, when the Bread and Wine are brought from the
table of the prothesis and placed upon the Holy Table, while the Cherubic
Hymn is sung in honour of "the King of all, invisibly attended by the
spears of the Angelic Hosts." See Dr. Freshfield's article in the Archaeo-
logia, vol. xliv., p. 386 ; he translates a parallel account from Codinus.

S. SOPHIA

are set out the Holy Elements, and, standing outside the
prothesis, a golden mantle is put upon him over the diadem
and the purple ; and in the right hand he holds the cross,
which he usually carries when he wears his crown, but in the
left he carries the rod, which he who is called deputatus
usually carries. With these in both hands the emperor
leads the sacred entrance, and on both sides of him march
the Varangi with their axes, and the sons of the nobility
armed and unarmed, about a hundred in all, follow; and
immediately behind him come the deacons in order, and the
priests, carrying the vessels for the service — and other
most holy things. And after going round the nave, as is
their wont, when they come into the solea, all the others
stand outside, but the emperor alone enters the solea and
finds the patriarch standing at the sacred screen, and after
bowing to one another the patriarch goes inside, but the
emperor remains without, and then the deacon who followed
immediately after the emperor, holding in his right hand
a censer, and in his left what is called the maphorion of
the patriarch, approaches and censes the emperor. The
emperor bows his head, while the deacon with a loud voice
calls out, « May the Lord be mindful of the power of thy
kingdom in His universal kingdom, now and always and for
ever and ever, Amen.' And in order the rest of the deacons and
the priests approach and say the same. And when this is
finished the emperor bows to the patriarch, takes off the
mandya, which is taken away by the refendarius. The
emperor again ascends the tribune and sits down on the
throne, but he stands during the creed, the Lord's Prayer,
and the elevation of our Lord's body. And after the eleva-
tion, if he is not prepared for the Communion he remains
seated till the end of the service. But if he is prepared,
the deacons again come and summon him. And with them
he enters into the bema and, having been given a censer, he
censes the Holy Table, looking first of all to the east, then
north, west, and south, and having again censed towards the
east, he censes the patriarch also. The patriarch bows to him
and takes the censer, and censes the emperor in return.
After this the emperor removes the crown, and gives it into

THE AMBO

the hands of the deacons. Then the patriarch puts into his
hand a portion of our Lord's body, and after that he drinks
of the life-giving blood, not from a spoon like the rest of
the people, but from the cup itself like the priests. Then
the emperor replaces the crown, and comes out of the bema,.
and after the congregation has shared in the Communion,
and he has been blessed by the patriarch, and the priests,
and has kissed their right hands, they lead him to the part
called catechumena to receive the acclamations of the people.
When this is finished, he comes down again, and he and the
empress mount on horseback, and ride back to the palace to
partake of a banquet." 1

Codinus Curopalata 2 has also a description, almost in the
same words, but with some additions. The future emperor is
" led to the triclinium called Thomaites, which looks on to the
Augusteum, where are standing the populace with the army.
But before the emperor shows himself, what are called
epicombia are thrown to the people by one of the senators,
whom the emperor has selected. These epicombia are made
as follows. They cut pieces of cloth, and in each piece they
bind up three gold and as many silver numismata and three
obols, and then throw them to the people, and they scatter as
many thousands of these as the emperor shall arrange. Now
it is customary to throw these epicombia in the proaulion of
the great church, that is in the part called Augusteum ; — he
who scatters them standing above the steps of the Augusteum."
Inside the church a wooden tribunal had been prepared in the
gynaeceum, and at the end of the ceremony " the young
emperor with his wife the empress, and the emperor, his
father, and his mother, ascend. But the golden velothyra
hide the tribunal, so that they shall not be seen. Then the
psaltae sing * Lift up,' and immediately the velothyra are
raised, and the princes in the gynaeceum are greeted with
acclamations by the people."

1 A Russian pilgrim describing the coronation of Manuel in the four-
teenth century says, " The imperial procession advanced so slowly that
it took three hours to walk from the royal door to the thrones." Soc.
de P Orient Latin, series geog. vol. v., p. 143.

2 De Officiis Pa/atii, chap, xvii., ed. Bonn, p. 87.

CHAPTER V

THE RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR PARTS OF THE

CHURCH

Main Divisions. — Du Cange, in the commentary to his
edition of the Silentiary's Poem, was the first to make a
serious attempt to elucidate the interior arrangements of S.
Sophia. This appeared with the poem in the folio of 1670,1
but a revised edition was incorporated in his Historia
Byzantina, 16 80. 2

In the first his knowledge of the actual state of the
church seems to have been limited to the description of
Gyllius unassisted by any plan. Drawings of S. Sophia
were desiderata at that time, and Grelot tells us how he was
induced to attempt to make them by a knowledge that
others who had been commissioned by the King of France
had failed. Before the publication of his revised edition of
1680 Du Cange had obtained a plan. This appeared in
the same year as Grelot's work, and divergences seem to
show that the plans were, in great measure at least, independ-
ent of one another. The main text of his commentary
however remained the same, and the alterations, although
crucial, were mostly made by the omission of a few lines
here and there without any attention being specially called
to the fact.

This has been the cause of much confusion, as it has
unfortunately happened that the first edition has been

1 In Nicephori Brye?inii. . . . Pauli Silent tar it comment,

2 Hist, Byz. duplici commentary Wustrata,

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 67

reproduced without remark in the series of Byzantine texts
published at Bonn and in Migne's Patrologiae Cursus Com-
pletes. In this Du Cange placed the iconostasis " under the
great eastern arch which supports the dome," and thus
included the whole eastern hemicycle in the bema. He
devoted the whole central square under the dome to the
u priests and singers," separating it from the western hemi-
cycle by " marble columns," which were obtained by a
curious misreading of Gyllius' description of the verde
antique columns in the western opening on the first floor.
In the centre between these " marble columns " he placed
the " Beautiful " or " Royal Gate," and the western hemicycle
outside this was alone allotted to the people. In the cor-
rected edition of 1680 the bema is confined to the eastern
extension, the eastern hemicycle became the solea, and the
central area and western hemicycle are given to the people.

There is actually very little diversity of opinion in regard
to the main divisions of the church between Du Cange,
Neale,1 and Salzenberg, but Rohault de Fleury has been
misled into making an engraving of the iconostasis, stretch-
ing across the whole hundred feet of the hemicycle.

Bema. — A church, as Simeon of Thessalonica writes, is
properly " divided into three parts, the pronaos, the naos, and
the bema." The bema (see Plan, Fig. 5) is the raised part
within the screen or iconostasis included by the apse. This
was the place set apart for the priests, who are hence
sometimes called " they of the bema." 2 Decrees were
passed from time to time to enhance its sacred character ;
as that no member of the laity should pass beyond the
screen, except with the consent of a bishop. Even the
emperor was only allowed there during a few portions of
the liturgy.

The bema of S. Sophia was indifferently called the
adyta, hierateion, thusiasterion. The history of Michael
Attaliotas also speaks of it as the u second skene, that is,
the Holy of Holies." 3 The apse proper is by Paulus
mentioned apart from the space contained by the straight

1 Introduction to the History of the Eastern Church.

2 Pu Cange, S. Sophia, § 49. 3 Ed. Bonn, p. 259.

¥ 2

S. SOPHIA

walls, and it is possible that this is the kuklios (cyclius) of
Porphyrogenitus. From the poet we gather that the priests'
stalls against the wall were plated with silver. The upper
part of the curved wall is incrusted with precious marble of
sombre golden tones, beneath which the surface has been
disturbed and is now covered by plain gray slabs. When
we recall the immense quantity of silver that Procopius
says was used in the sanctuary, and remember that the
iconostasis and the altar-ciborium were of silver and the
Holy Table of gold, it seems likely that the plating of the
silver stalls covered the whole of this narrow strip, which
would not be more than six or eight feet above the top seat,
the level of which we suppose is marked by the projection
of the lower part of the wall. In the small oratory of the
Saviour built by Basil in the palace " the whole pavement
was of massive silver wrought by the hammer and enriched
by niello, and the walls to the right and left were covered
with great plates of silver damascened in gold and glistening
with precious stones and pearls." 1 To this space we should
refer the four panels with images in the wall mentioned in
the Novgorod Chronicle? which we suppose were of embossed
silver or enamel. The most eastward point of the apse was
occupied by the patriarch's throne.3 A bishop's chair with
a canopy preserved in the cathedral church of S. George at
Constantinople, said to have belonged to S. Sophia, is in any
case quite late. It is of wood, ornamented with inlaid work
representing the two-headed eagle, which was not adopted
earlier than the tenth century.

In Fig. 8 we give an outline of a miniature in the Meno-
logium (Jan. 16) of the adoration of S. Peter's chains, which
were kept in the chapel of S. Peter attached to the great
church. We have here a bema fully represented with the
altar, ciborium, and apsidal stalls for the clergy. We can
hardly suppose that these latter could have belonged to a
small dependent chapel, and hence the miniature in the
symbolic way of these old drawings is probably intended as a
view of the great apse.

1 Cons. Porphyr. in Labarte, Pal.. Imperial^ p. 9,2.

2 See our p. 75. 3 Sec Anon. p. 138 below.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 69

Altar. — The central object of the bema was the altar,
which stood beneath the cylindrical vault, on the under side
of which the two great watching angels are represented in
the mosaic. Paulus says, ** On columns of gold is raised the
all golden slab of the Holy Table ; it stands too on a base
of gold, and from it gleams the brightness of precious
stones." The doubtful Anonymous says that it was " sup-
ported on four columns, overlaid with gold," and again that

Fig. 8. — View of Bema from the Menologiwn.

"it was set up on solid columns of gold, studded with
precious stones ; " and that beneath the altar was a " sea "
{thalassa) ornamented with gold and precious stones.1 This
seems to refer to the " base of gold " beneath the columns.

According to Labarte, the description by the Anonymous
(see p. 138) shows that the altar itself was decorated with

1 The Eucbologium, ed. 1647, p. 499, speaks of taking the garments of
those about to become conventuals and placing them on or in the
" little sea " {thalassidiori) of the Holy Table. Here Goarus interprets
it as "the hollow recess of the Holy Table," which seems to have been
beneath the table, and used for washing the vessels, like the piscina in
the later Latin church.

S. SOPHIA

the bright diversity of enamel. This he seems to prove by
passages in Suidas 1 and Cedrenus. The last-named writes :
"It is formed of gold, of silver, of every kind of stone and
metal and wood, and everything which earth, sea, or the
whole universe contains. Of all these he (Justinian)
collected the most valuable, with some small amount of
commoner ones. He then melted those that would melt,
added those that were dry, and poured them into a mould
till it was filled. He wrote upon it, ' We (Justinian and
Theodora) thy servants, O Christ, bring thee of thine own,
praying that thou wilt graciously accept it, O Son and Word
of God made flesh and crucified for us. Strengthen us in
the true faith, increase and guard this state, which thou hast
intrusted to us, through the mediation of Mary, the holy
Virgin, the Mother of God.' "

However doubtful these late Greek writers are as authori-
ties for Justinian's time, enamel was used in later days in the
most extravagant manner, and we cannot doubt that at the
time when the Crusaders took the church the altar was of
enamel.2 Robert de Clari,3 writing at this time, says, "the
chief altar of the church (S. Sophia) is so rich that one
cannot value it ; for the slab which forms the altar is of
gold and of precious cut stones (esq uarte lees) and pearls
(molucs) all thrown together." Nicetas is even clearer ; de-
scribing the capture of Constantinople and the sack of the
church, he says : " The Holy Table, made of all kinds of
precious materials, cemented together by fire, and formed
into a many-coloured harmony so as to be the wonder of all
nations, was broken in pieces and distributed by the soldiers."4

It is very probable that some of the enamels added to the

1 " ZXcKTpov or dXXoTU7rov united with glass and fine stones ; such
is the material of which the Holy Table of S. Sophia is made." Glossary
of Suidas quoted by Labarte in Recherches sur la Peinture en Entail, p. 89.

3 Porphyrogenitus describes the table in the chapel built by Basil the
Macedonian as "a mixture of all precious materials placed in order and
bound together by fire into a many-coloured mass of surpassing beauty,
which is the wonder of all nations." We also read of " Holy Tables
of silver, having gold and precious stones and pearls poured over them,
forming a compact union together."

3 Hopf, Chroniques Greco-Romanes.

4 Nic. Chron. Hist., ed. Bonn, p. 758.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 71

Pala d'Oro at Venice after the sack of Constantinople came
from the sanctuary of S. Sophia, possibly from its altar.
Sylvester Sguropulus 1 who accompanied John Palaeologus to
Venice in 1438, describes the Pala d'Oro as " an icon which
is formed out of many, and we heard that some of these
were taken from the Church of S. Sophia." It may be only a
coincidence that one of the panels of the Pala contains the
figure of Solomon with the Greek inscription, " Wisdom
hath builded her house," that being the usual legend for
Solomon.

The altar would have been covered, like the altars shown
in the mosaics at Ravenna, and the illustrations of the
Menologium? by a cloth reaching on all sides to the floor.
These cloths bear very simple devices — in the centre a plain
cross, circle, or star, and at the four corners gammidae J\ "J
which in the code of symbolism probably expressed the four
corners of that world, for which the daily sacrifice was
offered.

Others however were more richly embroidered. In the
Liber Fontificalis of Agnellus 3 it is said that Maximian, the
Archbishop of Ravenna in Justinian's time, ordered a most
precious altar-cloth (endothis) of byssus, on which was
embroidered the whole history of the Saviour. " It is not
possible to imagine the human figures, or the beasts and
birds which are made on it." The figure of the archbishop
was represented with the inscription, " Praise the Lord with
me, for he hath raised me from the dust." The Continuator
of Theophanes also speaks of an altar-cloth on which " the
birth of the Lord was represented." 4

The general Greek name for altar-cloth was endute. Those
at S. Sophia are thus spoken of by the Anonymous, and we
read that Michael Palaeologus sent to the Pope " an endute of
the Great Church, of rose red, with gold and pearls worked
on it."5

1 Vera His tor ia Unionis, Hague, 1660.

2 A MS. Greek service-book made for Basil II. (976-1025) now in the
Vatican Library. A folio was printed from it at Urbino in 1727.

3 Migne, S. L. vol. 106, p. 610. 4 Migne, S. L. vol. 106, p. 603.
5 Pachymeres, de Mich. Pal. ed. Bonn, vol. ii., p. 385.

S. SOPHIA

Ciborium. — The altar stood under a canopy of silver
called a kiborion, as is fully described by Paulus. Accord-
ing to the Anonymous it was patterned with niello or
damascening (see p. 138). Such ciboria are frequently
spoken of in the Lives of the Popes.1 Thus Gregory I.
made for S. Peter's a " ciborium with four columns of pure
silver," and Leo III. " made for the basilica of S. Paul
a ciborium with large and beautiful columns of the purest
silver." The ciborium of S. Demetrius at Salonica, a fifth-
century work described in the Acta Sanctorum, was also of
silver, it supported at the top " a solid sphere of silver,
with wonderful lily-leaves curved round it, and a cross
above."5

An illustration 3 in an eighth-century Gospel preserved at
Venice represents a ciborium, like that at S. Sophia. We see
four arches on four columns, and from the flat top above
rises an octagonal cone. At the four corners stand bowls,
and in each bowl is a candle or a representation of one, as
the Silentiary describes. Pope Leo III. placed " above the
altar of S. Peter four large cups of the purest silver, every
one having in its centre a candle of silver-gilt." 4

The ciborium at S. Sophia described by Paulus may have
:lasted till 1203 ; Robert de Clari, writing at this time, says :
" Around the altar there are columns ,of silver, which carry
a canopy [abitacle) over the altar, made like a tower (c/okier),
which is all of massive silver, and so rich that one cannot
estimate its value."

Crowns, &V.-— From the .first a crown and dove of gold
would have been suspended from the centre of the canopy ;
such doves are spoken of as being in use in Constantinople
during the Council of 536. 5 Theophanes says: "On Easter
Day Sophia, the widow of Justin II., and Constantia, the wife
of Maurice, gave the Emperor Maurice a crown of exceeding
value. When the emperor saw it, he took it to S. Sophia,
and hung it above the Holy Table by triple chains of gold and

1 Du Cange, S. Sophia, § -57. 2 Texier, Arch. Byz., p. 134.

3 De Fleury, La Messe, vol. ii. and plate c'ii.

4 Du Cange, § 58.

5 Bingham, Antiq. Christ. Church, vol. iii., p. 123, note.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 73

precious stones." 1 This, Nicephorus Callistus says, was pre-
served there till the taking of the city by the Latins.2 Accord-
ing to Buzantios, the emperor Leo IV. and his wife Irene also
suspended crowns here. Nicetas speaks of the " crown of the
great Constantine, which hung above the Holy Table ; " and
again of one "John, surnamed Crassus, who rushed into S.
Sophia and placed on his head a small crown, one of those
which hang round the Holy Table;" 3 and it appears from
the account of the Russian pilgrim Anthony, given in the
next chapter, that just before the Crusade there were thirty
crowns suspended from the ciborium — a beautiful symbolism.

The splendid hanging crowns at Monza and in the Cluny
Museum show us that these votive crowns were broad circlets
of gold incrusted with large uncut rubies and emeralds with
borders of pearls, and strings of jewels, and other pendants
hanging from the rim. A small enamelled crown for sus-
pension above an altar which is amongst the Constantinople
treasures at S. Mark's is inscribed AEON AECn(OTHC) ; this,
according to Labarte, must be Leo VI., who died in 91 1. 4

Altar-veils. — Round the four sides of the ciborium were
suspended the curtains described in such detail by Paulus.
They were all the more wonderful at this time as being
silk-woven and not embroidered.5 The gold thread however
seems to have been " laid " on. By the later Greeks those
curtains were named tetrabela. They were often of deep
red embroidered with gold, and were usually hung on rods
going from capital to capital of the ciborium, as some of
the illustrations in the Menologium show, though others
seem to have been suspended from the curves of the
arches.

The Iconostasis. — For a description of the screen in front
of the bema, with its columns, beam, panels, and doors plated
with silver, we refer to the Silentiary. A screen of this kind,
from the sacred paintings with which it is adorned, is now
called the iconostasis, but by the Byzantine writers it is

1 Ed. Bonn, vol. i., p. 433. 2 Migne, S. G. Tom. 147, p. 414.

3 Ed. Bonn., pp. 450 and 697.

4 Figured in Ongania's // Tesoro di San Marco.

5 Bayet, V Art Byzantin.

74 S. SOPHIA

usually named herkos, druphrakta, kinklidai, or kankelloi.
Such screens were generally of bronze or marble. The
Church of S. John the Evangelist, built by Galla Placidia at
Ravenna, had a screen of silver. At the Church of the
Apostles at Constantinople, built by Constantine, the icon-
ostasis was gilded bronze. The screen of S. Peter's in Rome
was formed by the twelve beautiful antique columns which
figure in Raphael's tapestry, standing in two rows.1 Eusebius
connects twelve columns which stood about the tomb in the
Sepulchre church with the number of the apostles, and it is
possible, as De Fleury suggests, that in the six pairs of pillars
forming the iconostasis at S. Sophia a reference may be seen
to the dismissal of the apostles two by two. From the
narrowness of the bema it seems certain that the coupling
of the pillars was transversely to the screen as shown on our
plan, Fig. 5. Thus they easily supported the passage way,
where stood a great gemmed cross and a row of branched
silver candelabra. This was the " narrow way for the lamp-
lighter above the silver columns" described by the Silentiary.

The decoration of the silver plating of the breastwork
and the beam by figures of apostles, prophets, and angels,
and with circles bearing crosses and monograms, may have
been formed in repousse, like a beautiful gilt panel with a
figure of the Virgin and Greek inscription now at Kensington
Museum, which formed a part of the decoration of the
screen at Torcello, but we think it more probable that it
was damascened with gold like the silver work in Basil's
chapel.

The iconostasis probably reached up to the base of the
porphyry strip which forms the border of the marble plating
of the bema ; if so it was about twenty feet high ; it had
three doors — " The Holy Doors " — that in the centre being
the largest.

The " gold and silver columns in the middle of the temple "
seen by Benjamin of Tudela, 1 1 73, must refer to the icono-
stasis.

When the Crusaders practically sacked the church, the
iconostasis, ciborium, and altar were broken up and distri-
1 De Fleury, La Messe.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 75

buted. Nicetas says, " The furniture of surpassing beauty,
the silver, which went round the screen of the bema, the
ambo, the doors, and many ornaments, in which gold was
used, were carried away." The Novgorod Chronicle 1 gives a
fuller account of the eventful morning when the doors were
broken through and S. Sophia was invaded. " They broke
down the podium of the priests, ornamented with silver, the
twelve silver columns, the four panels in the wall, decorated
with images, and the Holy Table. They also destroyed the
screen walls of the altar placed between the columns, and
twelve crosses which stood above the altar ; amongst these
were crosses of metal, like trees, higher than a man. All
these things were made of silver.

" They carried off also the wonderful table, with the gems
and a great pearl ; so great a crime did they commit in
ignorance. Moreover they snatched away forty cups standing
on the altar, and silver candelabra, whose number was so great
that it is not possible to enumerate them, as well as the silver
vessels which the Greeks use, more especially on feast days.

" They stole a Gospel, that was used for the services, and
sacred crosses and single images and the covering which was
above the altar, and forty censers made of pure gold : they laid
hands on all gold and silver and on priceless vessels in the
cupboards, walls, and other places, in such quantity that
they cannot be numbered."

Grelot says that before the Turks altered the church the
iconostasis had figures of the Virgin and S. John Baptist
between the central and side-doors and the Twelve Apostles
over.2

Prothesis and Diakonikon. — Two chapels that in Byzantine
churches almost invariably occur right and left of the bema
with which they communicate directly are usually called the
prothesis and diakonikon ; they were sacristies, used respec-
tively for the preparation of the mass and as a treasury or
vestry. Du Cange in both editions placed them in the two
exedras of the eastern hemicycle, and in this he is followed by
Salzenberg. The impossibility of this arrangement is shown
by Neale, who suggests that two chambers on either side of

1 Hopf, Ckroniques Greco-Romanes. 2 Compare our p. 126.

S. SOPHIA

the bema which Du Cange thought were only supplementary
were the sacristies in question. The chapels at the east end
of S. Sophia have now been built up, but the doors that led
into them still exist. We are not however certain that these
chapels were built with the church. Paulus does not mention
them, and there do not appear to have been chapels in this
position at S. Sergius. In regard to the use of the prothesis
and diakonikon, Dr. Freshfield 1 considers that the procession
with the bread and wine called the Megale Eisodos, described
in our last chapter, only became a part of the ritual in the
reign of the successor of Justinian, to whose time the Cherubic
Hymn sung during the ceremony is referred. The earlier
liturgies, he says, contain no directions for this ceremony, but
merely speak of the deacon as moving the elements from the
prothesis table to the altar, and he concludes that the two
side-chapels found in so many churches belong to a time
subsequent to Justin II. Two narrow passages however,
right and left of the bema, at S. Sophia, S. Sergius, S. Irene,
and S. Vitale seem to show that they were intended for access
to lateral portions used in connection with the bema, even if
these parts were merely screened from the aisles, and a com-
parison of many early churches in Syria and Asia Minor
proves that such chapels were in frequent use if not essential
long before Justinian built his church.2 See our figures 31
and 32, and compare Cattaneo, page 60.

The prothesis and diakonikon of S. Sophia are very inr-
frequently mentioned by those names. In the catalogue of
the Constantinopolitan patriarchs we read of " relics being
kept in the diaconicum." 3 The diakonikon is also named
where Codinus speaks of the emperor as " hearing the prayers
of S. Basil near the diakonikon," and the prothesis is men-
tioned in the passage on p. 63. Certain divisions of the
church at the east end are however frequently mentioned by

1 Arckaeologia, vol. xxxiv.

2 Paulinus, describing the church at Nola, writes : " Cum duabus
dextra laevaque conchulis intra spatiosum sui ambitum apsis sinuata
laxetur, una earum immolanti hostias jubilationis antistiti patet, altera
post sacerdotem capaci sinu receptat orantes." Migne, S.L., vol. 61,
P. 337-.

3 Suicerus, Thesaurus Ecdesiasticus verb. Diaconicum.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 77

Porphyrogenitus, the Anonymous, and the Russian pilgrims.
Thus we have the skeuophylakium (treasury of vessels) and
other chapels referred to. The skeuophylakium of the
Anonymous seems to be the same as the " lesser sanctuary "
of Anthony, by which stood the cross which gave the exact
height of Christ. This lesser sanctuary, or skeuophylakium,
is probably the diakonikon — " the oratory in front of the
metatorion " — where the relics of the Passion were kept.1
Again we read : " Then by the right-hand side of the bema,
they enter the oratory where stands the silver crucifix ....
after worshipping they ascend by the cochlea [spiral stair, we
suppose at south-east angle where minaret now is] which is by
the part called the Holy Well, to the eastern part of the right-
hand catechumena." Again, "Then by the right-hand side
of the bema, they enter the oratory where stands the silver
crucifix." 2

The Holy Well and Metatorion. — The Holy Well, so
frequently mentioned in the Cerem&nies, seems to have been
not merely an object but a division of the church. Labarte
makes it a chamber external to the church on the south side,
but the Anonymous shows that it was to the east, by speaking
of " that part of the temple in which was the Holy Well, the
bema, and the arnbo." The author of an account of " the
miracle in the Holy Well of the Great Church " speaks of a
picture of Christ as being by the eastern gate, " where is the
holy mouth of the well of Samaria." 3

The Russian pilgrims generally speak of the Samaritan
well, from which flowed water from the Jordan, as "in the
sanctuary : " the Anonymous Russian says " in the chapel
to the right." At this time it was probably in one of the
eastern chapels, which may have been identical with the pro-
thesis or diakonikon. Some passages of the Ceremonies seem
to imply that in the tenth century the Holy Well was
without the building ; thus we hear of the " embolos
[portico] of the Holy Well : " and again, " from the Holy
Well, they enter by the door leading to the church ; " 4
possibly it was moved later, but probably one of the eastern

1 See p. 96. 2 Cer. pp. 636 and 565. 3 Du Cange, § 76.

4 Cer. p. 27. A Holy Well is frequently found in the Prothesis.

7:8

S. SOPHIA

attached chapels will fulfil the conditions. In our Fig. 5 we
have followed Du Cange's ground-plan in the distribution of
these eastern chapels. It is possible that the round north-
east building was used as a great sacristy as Salzenberg sug-
gests; Grelot calls it so on his plan, and T. Smith says this
was a tradition. The Anonymous definitely distinguishes the
Skeuophylakium, the Holy Well, and the Chapel of S. Peter.

The Metatorion, frequently spoken of together with the
Holy Well, Labarte and Paspates place on the south side,
external to the church. We think it was probably the name
of portions of the side-aisles screened off by curtains.
This would agree with Unger,1 who thinks that the word
means a " quarter of the church " (metatio), and that Du
Cange was mistaken in deriving it from mutator ium. In the
Ceremonies, — " The princes go out of the right side of the
bema and enter the metatorion." Again, the patriarch
stands within the iconostasis "on the right-hand side of
the bema, towards the metatorion." From the metatorion
a small door led to the Holy Well. Again, "they leave
the bema by the right-hand side through the small holy
door (in iconostasis) and proceed to the porphyry columns
(of exedra), and by the staircase of the metatorion they
enter the catechumena." 2 Ag ain, u the emperor takes off
his crown in the metatorion within the Beautiful Gate," and
" within the veil, hanging in the metatorion at the back of
the narthex door." Metatoria in the catechumena of S.
Sophia and of S. Sergius are also referred to.3

Solea. — The later writers often mention the solea or
S. Sophia. Thus Cantacuzenus speaks of the emperor
passing through the solea up to the " Holy Doors." 4 It
was immediately outside the iconostasis, and must have
closely agreed with the choir of the singers in a Western
church. Paulus does not use the word, but he describes the
singers as occupying the space in front of the Holy Doors,
and embraced by the exedras. The ambo, with its long

1 Quetten fur Byzantischer Kumtgescbuhte.

2 Cer. pp. 17 and 167. 3 Qer pp> x^ an(j jga

4 See account of Coronation in previous chapter and of Adoration
of Cross below,

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 79

passage of approach from the step of the Holy Doors,
divided this space in two, so it is clear that the singers stood
on either side of the ambo. The portion round about the
ambo screened by the circle of columns was reserved for
the leaders of the choir, the Protopsaltae.1 We cannot infer
from the Silentiary that there was any other screen to the
Solea, and no stalls for the singers are mentioned.

It is possible that in the tenth century, when the Book of
the Ceremonies was written, the ambo had been modified at
least in regard to the approach from the bema, and that a
considerable space was interposed between it and the Holy
Doors, in front of which there was at this time a porphyry
omphalion stone (see our page 96). Paspates2 says this is
still quite intact, somewhat oval in shape, seven feet across,
and adorned with a mosaic of marbles. It seems probable
from the Anonymous that in these later days the solea was
inclosed by a screen which he says was of silver.3

Paulus describes a part on the south side as being inclosed
for the emperor, and in Porphyrogenitus we read that the
emperor had his seat " near the Holy Doors on the right-
hand side." It is probable that opposite the emperor's
throne there was another bishop's chair, for that in the bema
might only be occupied by the bishop in his own diocese.
Grelot indeed reports that the emperor's and bishop's
thrones were opposite one another.

Nave. — We now come to the central division of the
church, the naos or nave, the square space beneath the dome
contained between the four main piers : its centre was called
omphalos, mesomphalos, or mesonaos.

The pavement, according to the poet Paul, was covered
with white Proconnesian marble and darker Bosporus stone.
In the opening lines of the description before given he seems
to compare the veined marble to flowing streams, or foam-
flecked sea, and the ambo is likened to an island rising from the
sea. According to Glycas and Codinus the first pavement was

1 On Mount Athos ; "the Kanonarches, or master of the choir,
prompts the cantors, who sing without books." A. Riley's Mount Atkos,

2 The Great Palace, p. 96.

3 Compare S. Germanus ; ha Messe, iii., p. 91.

S. SOPHIA

of various hues like the ocean. The Anonymous, in com-
paring a pavement which he says was laid down afterwards
with this supposed earlier one, says that " messengers were
sent to Proconnesus, and marble of a green colour was
worked there, as is seen now like rivers flowing into the
sea." Codinus says, " four rivers of leek-green marble were
like the four streams which flow from Paradise to the sea." As
is seen now certainly seems to bring something definite before
our eyes, and so far as the pavement can be seen through
the narrow chinks of the matting there is much to confirm
this part of the Anonymous. Grelot tells us that the
pavement is laid in compartments. It is of whitish gray
Proconnesian marble, laid in slabs about 4 x 10 feet, with
here and there strips of verde antique about 2 feet wide,
which suggest the quartering of the floor by a great cross.
Moreover the square of rich Alexandrine work still existing,
and figured by Salzenberg, lies on a diagonal, and would thus
exactly occupy one of four square spaces left in the angles
(see Fig. 5). Now in the palace the floor of the bed-
chamber of Basil had four rivers or streams of Thessalian-
green marble which seemed to flow away from the centre,
and the quarters were filled with mosaics of large eagles.1
It may also be noticed that four rivers are depicted as
flowing away from the cross on the central bronze door of
narthex. Many parallel examples of pavements, still exist-
ing, confirm the Anonymous in this respect. The mosaic
floors of Italy furnish many instances where the four rivers
of Eden are represented in the several angles as human
forms pouring from urns, waters which are inscribed with
the names Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates, and Pison. The
design of the pavement of the Baptistery at Florence has
been much disturbed, but it seems to have represented flow-
ing streams, which led from the font in the middle to the
doors like four paths. It has been pointed out that the
carpet of Chosroes, which is described as having represented
a garden with flowing streams, was a traditional pattern of
which an example showing four streams quartering the field

1 Theoph. Continu ed. Bonn, p. 333.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 81

is in the possession of Mr. Colvin.1 We understand that a
similar carpet is now in New York.

We give here a representation of a square of pavement at
the centre of the Western Gynaeceum ; it is of Proconnesian
slabs with border, and a disc of verde antico.

Font. — A fine marble font formerly in the precincts of
the Mosque Zeinab Sultana at the west of S. Sophia, and
now in the Imperial Museum, is the one referred to by

Fig. 9. — Marble Pavement at centre of West Gallery.

Paspates as being probably the font of S. John Baptist (the
Baptistery). He writes that there were only two remaining
in Constantinople, the other being a smaller font in the
precincts of the Mosque Kotza Mustapha Pasha.2 The font
in the museum which we illustrate is 8 feet i\ inches long,
6 feet il inches wide, and 4 feet 6 inches high, wrought out
of one fine block of Proconnesian marble. The outside is
carefully finished, which shows that it stood above the floor.
The inside is formed into steps, and about the rim are

1 Mr. Conway in Art Journal, 1891. 2 Great Paiace, pp. 120, 129.

S. SOPHIA

several roughly sunk crosses, which we suggest were filled
by inlaid votive crosses of metal. Similar fonts are shown
in the mosaics at S. Mark's and other places. Texier found
one in the marble quarries of Synnada with steps inside, and

the Memoirs of the Exploration Fund,1 closely resembles
this at Constantinople, which we may therefore look on as a
typical Byzantine font.

1 Vol. iii., p. 321.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 83

Consecration or other Crosses. — On the great verde antico
columns of the north side of the nave, about six feet above
the floor, appear sunk crosses about six inches high ; on the
south side shallow sunk panels occupy similar positions,
formed we may suppose by the Turks for the purpose of
destroying the crosses. Similar sunk crosses occur on some
of the marble columns in the gallery at S. Sergius and at
Bethlehem ; at Sinai the nave columns bear inlaid bronze
crosses. From the character of those at S. Sophia we should
suppose that they were also formerly filled by inlaid metal ;
their similarity in size and the regularity with which they
are placed seem to show that they are of the nature of
consecration crosses rather than being merely votive, or rather
that they were made by the builders, just as a farmer crosses
his bags of wheat. In most of the cisterns of Constantinople
one column at least bears a large fairly wrought cross.

Miraculous Marbles and Mosaics. — Clavijo describes a
large white slab in the right of the gallery naturally figuring
" the Virgin with Christ in her most holy arms : " beneath
this was an altar in a little chapel where they said mass.
These marbles, in which accidental resemblances to figures
might be traced, were evidently much valued. Felix Fabri
describes a slab at the Holy Sepulchre in which S. Jerome
and his lion appeared. " This picture was not produced by
art, but by simple polishing alone."

The column of S. Gregory Thaumaturgus, mentioned by
Anthony ,of Novgorod as by the entrance and " covered with
bronze plates," may possibly be the celebrated "sweating
column," which is the first square pillar in the north aisle.
At about five feet from the floor it is cased with bronze,
in which a hole is left over the cavities in the pillar which
are supposed to exude the dampness; The indents are
smooth, and look like natural cavities discovered in the marble
when it was wrought. Canon Curtis, who was kind enough
to examine the pillar for us, says it was perfectly dry, and the
attendants assured him that water never oozed out of the
cavities, although " a few drops of water might be easily kept
in each of them." Sweating columns are well known in the
legends of the middle ages. Benjamin of Tudela speaks of

G 2

S. SOPHIA

two in Rome which sweated on the anniversary of the fall of
Jerusalem, and Mandeville mentions four pillars in the Holy-
Sepulchre " that always drop water, and some men say that
they weep for our Lord's death." Stephen of Novgorod
speaks of a mosaic of Christ in S. Sophia from which holy
water flowed from the wounds of the feet.

Water Vessels. — At the west end of the church in the
right and left exedras stand two large white Proconnesian
marble urns about seven feet high, of beautiful gourd-like
forms. They rise from the centre of polygonal basins, and
water is drawn from them through bronze taps. It has
been said that they were brought from Pergamus or
Marmora by Sultan Murad III.1 The carving of the turban-
like tops is certainly Turkish, but the vessels seem to be of
Byzantine form, and we are disposed to agree with Grelot,
who saw them in their present position before 1680. He
says they were kept full of water " to cool the Moham-
medans overheated by their devout gesticulations." " If
they are not very ancient, they stand in the place of others,
which contained holy water for the Christians who entered
the church." He associates with these the palindrome in-
scription given by Gruter (see our page 191), which he says
was written on these, or similar, vessels in gold letters.2

Now a beautiful cantharus in the Church of S. Peter
and S. Andrew, on the island of Murano,3 which is almost
identical with those of S. Sophia, is stated to have been
brought back thence with the Venetian booty, and bears a
Byzantine inscription : —

ANTAHCATAI • YACOP • META • €Y4>POCYNHC • OTI <DCJNH.
KY-em TWN • YAATU)N •

(*' Draw the water with gladness, for the voice of the

1 Fossati : also Paspates' Byzantinae Meletai, p. 343.

2 Relation d'un Voyage de Constantinople, p. 160. This idea he may-
have obtained from Rosweyd's note to Paulinus (1569), saying fountains in
front of churches were succeeded by lustral vases placed at the vestibule
of the temple. "The rim of such a one seems to be figured in Gruter,
p. 1046, with an inscription which was selected from the Anthology,
as is shown by Rigaltius. This line was [also] written on the sepulchre
of St. Diomede."

3 Paciaurdi 1758, De sacris Balneis, tab. vi.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 85

Lord is upon the waters ") ; together with a monogram
which reads NlKOMEAOY. Beneath the monogram appears
a stopping where evidently a tap was fixed, in exactly the
position of those to the urns in S. Sophia. The first half
of the latter inscription is on a small vessel of lead found
at Tunis, which, from the character of the decoration, cannot
be later than the fourth or fifth century. The first mention
of the vessels in S. Sophia which we have been able to find
is by an English traveller, Fynes Moryson (1595), who
says, " I did see two nuts of marble of huge bigness and
great beauty."

We give in Fig. 1 1 the vessel in the south exedra at
S. Sophia, together with that of Murano, and for further
comparison some beautiful vessels from a relief of Justinian's
time on the ivory throne at Ravenna. We have omitted
the Turkish top of the former. Canon Curtis, who has
specially examined them, writes to us that between the top
and body of each vessel is a copper band which conceals the
joint, if there is a joint.

Images and 'Tombs. — Very few fragments of Christian
sculpture remain in Constantinople. The Silentiary does
not mention any sculpture at S. Sophia. Probably the
feeling which was mature in Leo the Isaurian was always
latent ; Oriental Christians sharing in the dislike with
which Jew and Moslem regarded statues. Canon Curtis
writes : " On the northern side of the sweating column I
used to see parts of a bas-relief representing, as I thought,
a procession, but it was almost concealed by the metal
plates, and now it is entirely hidden." The wealth of the
church in icons at a late period may be gathered from
incidental references. Not until a late time do we hear
of any tombs in the church. S. Chrysostom and most of
the other patriarchs were buried in the Church of the
Holy Apostles.

Pachymeres mentions " the stele of the three Germani
(Patriarchs of Constantinople) near the porphyry columns
on the west." Nicephorus Gregoras1 also writes that the

Ed. Bonn, vol. i., p. 262.

S. SOPHIA

\ i

j /, \ ^Jfe&€ /

FlGi ii. — Water Vessels from S. Sophia and Murano.

remains of the patriarch Arsenius were buried in the great
Church of S. Sophia.

Hangings. — The descriptions on several occasions mention
veils and hangings by the names of vela and velothyra.
With mosaics and miniatures to help us it is possible to
judge of the lavish way in which these hangings were used.

The mosaics at Ravenna show veils hanging at the door of
the church through which Theodora is about to enter, and
the large elevation of the Palace of Theodoric, likewise in
mosaic, shows hangings in all the arches of the portico.
Such textiles suspended at entrance doorways are often
mentioned by contemporary authors.1 At S. Sophia the
doors entering the narthex, and those between it and
the church, all have bronze hooks, to which such " door
veils " were suspended ; and embroidered Turkish hang-
ings, which roll up from the bottom by means of cords
and pulleys, are still hung to them. In the Byzan-
tine mosaics the hangings are often shown raised by being
gathered into a loose knot, or by being drawn to the sides
and passed once round the pillars between which they hang.

1 E. Muntz, Tapisserie.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 87

Fig. 12.— Vessels of Sixth Century : from Ivory Throne, Ravenna.

The account of the coronation ceremony describes how the
royal persons were seated in the gynaeceum, screened by
" golden velothyra," so that they should not be seen until
the psaltae sang the "Lift up," when immediately the
velothyra were raised. Of these hangings in the interior we
have a picture in the account given in the continuation of
Theophanes of an ambassador, Iber Curopalates, who visited
Constantinople in 923, and "was taken to the church of
S. Sophia, that he should inspect its beauty and size and
precious ornaments. Now the walls were all draped with
cloth of gold before they led him in, and he, struck with
the great size of the church and its wealth of adornment,
exclaimed, * Truly this is the house of God,' and returned
home." 1 The Ceremonies mention gold hangings in Catechu-
mena above Royal Door.2 Nicetas tells us how the Crusaders
"spared neither the house of God nor His ministers, but
stripped the great church of all its fine ornaments and hang-
ings, made of the richest brocades of inestimable value."

We have no doubt that S. Sophia was frequently adorned
inside by the arcades of both tiers having hangings suspended

1 Ed. Bonn, p. 402 and p. 894.

2 Cer. I., p. 591.

S. SOPHIA

from the iron bars, which cross all these arches at their
springing, exactly like those shown in the mosaic of Theo-
dories palace. Indeed Ignatius of Smolensk (circ. 1395),
who was present at the coronation of Manuel, says that the
women in the galleries remained behind curtains of silk so
that none might see their faces.1

These hangings seem either to have had simple figures
such as squares with large "gammidae" at the corners
worked on them, probably in gold, or they were patterned
over with figures, animals, and flowers, woven in the stuff
like the elaborate veils of the altar described by the Silentiary.
The linen vestments found at Panopolis in Egypt show us
that the _ " gammidae " originated in embroidered shoulder
straps, with seal-like ends applied on either side of the neck
opening. Fig. 13 shows two of the door veils represented
at Ravenna ; that on the right is from the mosaic in S.
Apollinare Nuovo showing the palace. The gammidae are
here exactly of the form found on the early Coptic linen
vestments, and it cannot be doubted that they were " applied "
in a similar way. The pattern on the left is the door-hang-
ing from the mosaic of S. Vitale ; the plain squares are of
gold. The designs on the robes in this mosaic are interest-
ing. Justinian's chlamys is covered with birds m circles, the
border of Theodora's robe displays the three Magi making
their offerings ; one of her attendants has a robe powdered
with swimming ducks and a mantle with four petalled red
roses on a gold ground, and another robe has five pointed
leaves scattered over its field. Many examples of the figured
silks are preserved in museums. There is at South Ken-
sington Museum a piece of pictured silk of this kind,
probably of Justinian's time, which is covered with circles,
in each of which is figured a man and a lion. More
than a century before the time of Justinian, Asterius,
Bishop of Amasius, had made these elaborately figured
stuffs a subject of satire : « When men so draped appear
in the streets the passers-by regard them like painted walls.
Their clothes are pictures which little children trace out
with their fingers. There are lions, panthers, and bears,

1 Soc. Orient. Latin, series Geographique, vol. v. 1889, p. 14.3.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 89

Fig. 13. — Door Veils of the Sixth Century : Ravenna Mosaics.

also rocks, woods, and hunters. The most devout carry-
Christ, His disciples, and His miracles. Here we may see the
marriage in Galilee and the pots of wine ; there is the para-
lytic carrying his bed, the penitent woman at the feet of
Jesus, or Lazarus come again to life." 1

Later the patterns became more heraldic and larger in
scale, figuring for the most part great displayed eagles, and
griffons, or lions affronted. A piece of a textile of this kind
in the museum at Diisseldorf, of which there is a full-size
copy at South Kensington, bears golden lions about two feet
six inches long, and the names of Constantine VIII. and
Basil on a pallid purple ground. Frauberger2 compares
this with another signed example of the same age and
similar design preserved at Siegburg, and a third at Autun,
" all of which were intended for church hangings." The same

1 See E. Muntz, Tapisserie, and M. F. Michel, Rechercbes sur .
des etoffes de Soie.

2 Jahrbuch des V ereins von alterthumsfreunden in Rheinlande, 1 892, p.

224.

9°

S. SOPHIA

writer says that after Justinian's introduction of silk weaving
in 5 5 2 and the loss of Bosra with its purple-dye vats to
Chosroes, an imperial textile industry was established by the
Golden Horn, which existed until the fourteenth century.
Here these hangings were probably produced.

Carpets. — Portions of the floor of S. Sophia were almost
certainly strewn with carpets. Porphyrogenitus relates of
the New Church of Basil that " woollen carpets {nakopetai)
called prayer carpets, of wonderful size and beauty, and
resembling the bright plumage of peacocks, were laid one
over another, completely covering the mosaic pavement of
valuable stones." The carpets and prayer-rugs of the
mosques thus had their direct parallels, if not their proto-
types, in the Byzantine churches.

Synods. — The patriarchal registers, dating from the four-
teenth century, speak of synods sitting " in the right-hand
catechumena " ; this probably refers to the south gallery,
where the vault has displayed in mosaic the descent of the
Holy Ghost on the Apostles.

Across this gallery there is at present a screen, which
possibly, as Paspates suggests, shut off the part used by the
Synods. (See dotted line on Fig. 6.) The screen is made
up of two marble slabs, each sculptured into the form of
panelled double doors, with architraves and carved panels.
Above the opening left between these is a coloured marble
slab. At the top is a carved wood beam, which, being exactly
like the permanent vault ties, is evidently of Justinian's age ;
but the whole is certainly not an original assemblage of
the parts. Each slab, which imitates a pair of wood doors,
has a representation of a bronze ring handle and a lock-plate
on one half, and a hasp on the other, all exactly copied in
sculptured marble. We believe that these imitation doors
are earlier than the church ; the idea was common in late
classic times. De Vogue and Dr. Merrill 1 found several
tomb doors, similarly panelled, studded with imitation nails,
and having elaborate knockers, all carved in stone. An
example in marble now in the museum at Leeds closely
resembles the S. Sophia slabs.

1 Across the Jordan.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 91

Clergy and Ritual. — In the time of Justinian the total
number of clergy was 525, but at the time of Heraclius this
had been increased to 600. 1 They were thus divided: —

Presbyters . . . 80 Readers . . . 160
Deacons .... 150 Singers ... 25
Deaconesses. . , 40 Doorkeepers . 75

Subdeacons ... 70 ■

Totai . 600

The subdeacons, according to the forty-third canon of the
Council of Laodicea, stood by the doors. Porphyrogenitus 2
speaks of the emperor " passing through the narthex of the
gynaeceum, where the deaconesses have their usual place."
The same author also mentions3 "hypurgi of the narthex,
readers for alternate weeks, ostiarii of the Holy Well, a
domesticus of the subdeacons, and deputati of S. Sophia."
A series of seals of the officers of S. Sophia is given by
Schlumberger; 4 the seals are those of the klerikos, diakonos,
manglabites, ekdikos, deuteroboetes, protospatharios, and the
chartophulax. An anonymous author 5 gives a list of the
officers of the "holy and great" church which is too long
to be given in full, but we may note some of the duties
mentioned.

The Oeconomus held " one of the flabella, and stood at
the right hand of the altar, when the patriarch was officiat-
ing ; " while " the sacellarius, holding a napkin, stood on
the left." The skeuophylax stood in front of the skeuophy-
lakium, so as to be ready to hand any vessel that might be
wanted. The chartophulax stood near the " holy doors,"
and pronounced the words of the service, " Approach, ye
priests." The castensius holds the censer, and draws the
curtain at the T'risagion. The refendarius and deputati
carried the orders of the patriarch to the princes and nobles,

1 See Paspates and Salz. 2 Ed. Bonn, vol. i., p. 182. 3 Vol. i., p. 801.

4 Sigillograpbie de' I' Empire Byzantin. The seal of the church itself
represents Justinian and the Virgin or Theodora supporting the building.
Cp. Lenormant, Revue Numismatique, 1864, p. 268, pi. xii.

5 Explicatio Officiorum sanctae ac magnae Ecclesiae, Auctore incerto a
Bernardo Medonio edita, 1655. A Tupikon or Ritual Book of S. Sophia
has been recently found at Patmos : Byz. Zeit., 1893.

S. SOPHIA

and summoned them to his presence. When the patriarch
was officiating, the protopapas took precedence of all the
other priests, and even gave the communion to the patriarch.
The protopsaltes " stood in the middle of the church between
the right and left choirs," and led the singing. On one
occasion the number of priests was so great " that the
church of S. Sophia, though it is the greatest of all on the
earth, seemed then too small." 1

Up to the eleventh century, services were only performed
in S. Sophia on Sundays and Saints' days. In the middle of
the eleventh century, Monomachus arranged that the service
should be every day, and for this extra salaries were given.2

Some idea of the ritual of the services may be gathered
from the offices in the Euchologium, edited by Goar, the
Cherubic and other hymns, together with the Ceremonies
of Porphyrogenitus. An account given by Anthony of
Novgorod is quoted in the next chapter. Bertrandon Broc-
quiere writes : " I was curious to witness the manner of the
Greeks performing divine service, and went to S. Sophia
on a day when the patriarch officiated. The emperor was
present accompanied by his wife, his mother, and his brother,
the despot of the Morea. A Mystery was represented, the
subject of which was the three youths whom Nebuchad-
nezzar had ordered to be thrown into the fiery furnace."

Having in our last chapter quoted the description of the
procession and celebration of the Mass, we now give the
accounts of the Adoration of the Cross given by Arculf 3
in the seventh century, and by Porphyrogenitus in the
tenth ; together with the directions for the emperor's
procession to the great church.

The Adoration of the Cross. — " In the northern part of the
interior of the house (S. Sophia) is shown a very large and
beautiful aumbry, where is kept a wooden chest, in which is
shut up that wooden cross of salvation on which our Saviour
hung for the salvation of the world. This notable chest, as
the sainted Arculf relates, is raised with its treasure of such
preciousness upon a golden altar, on three consecutive days

1 Cantacuzenus, Bonn, ii., p. i 5. 2 Cedrcnus, vol ii., p. 609.

3 Pal. Pil. Text. Soc.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 93

after the lapse of a year. This altar also is in the same
round church, being two cubits long, and one broad. On
three consecutive days only throughout the year is the Lord's
cross raised and placed on the altar, that is on the day of the
supper of the Lord, when the emperor and the armies enter
the church, and, approaching the altar, after that sacred chest
has been opened, kiss the Cross of Salvation. First of all
the emperor of the world kisses it with bent face, then going
up one after another in the order of rank or age all kiss the
cross with honour. Then on the next day, that is on the
sixth day of the week before Easter, the queen, the matrons,
and all the women of the people approach it in the above-
mentioned order, and all kiss it with reverence. On the
third day, that is on the Paschal Sabbath, the bishop, and
all the clergy after him, approach in order with fear and
trembling and all honour, kissing the Cross of Victory which
is placed in its chest. When these sacred and joyful kissings
of the sacred cross are finished, that venerable chest is closed,
and with its honoured treasure it is borne back to its aumbry.
But this should also be carefully noted, that there are not two
but three short pieces of wood in the cross, that is the cross
beam and the long one which is cut and divided into two
equal parts ; while from these threefold venerated beams
when the chest is opened, there arises an odour of a wonder-
ful fragrance,1 as if all sorts of flowers had been collected in
it, wonderfully full of sweetness, satiating and gladdening all
in the open space before the inner walls of the church, who
stand still as they enter at that moment ; for from the knots
of those threefold beams a sweet-smelling liquid distils, like
pressed-out oil, which causes all men of whatever race, who
have assembled and entered the church, to perceive the above-
mentioned fragrance of so great sweetness. This liquid is
such that if even a little drop of it be laid on the sick, they
easily recover their health, whatever be the trouble or disease
they have been afflicted with."

The passage from the Book of the Ceremonies 2 describing

1 In the Ceremonies, book ii., we read that the three crosses kept in the
palace were anointed by the protopapas with balsam, before being shown.
Ed. Bonn, p. 549. 2 Ed. Bonn, p. 125.

S. SOPHIA

the Exaltation of the cross on September 14th begins with
the emperor " passing through the palace Manaura, and the
upper corridors, ascending by the wooden staircase, and enter-
ing the catechumena 1 of the great church." After he has
reached the catechumena and " lighted candles, and prayed,
he takes his seat in the part on the right-hand side." " The
emperor then summons the patriarch, who remains for a short
time with the emperor, and then goes out, and comes to the
small secretum, where is kept the Holy Wood, and receives
the emperor there. And as the congregation begin the
4 Glory to God in the Highest,' the emperor enters, and kisses
the Sacred Wood, and comes out into the great secretum.
Then the emperor, following the Cross, descends by the great
winding staircase, keeping to the left, and passes through the
Didaskalion,2 where the paschalia are inscribed, and having
gone down the steps, he enters through the great gate of
the narthex, and reaches the royal doors and stands there."
The emperor and patriarch now pass through the middle of
the nave, and on the right of the ambo into the solea ; here
the emperor stands before the Holy Doors, and gives the
candle he is carrying to the praepositus. He then enters the
bema, and having kissed the Sacred Wood, and turning round,
he comes out again, and passes through the solea, then mounts
the third or fourth step of the ambo and stands there, hold-
ing the candle. The patriarch then comes out of the bema
and mounts the ambo with the Sacred Wood, and the emperor
gives his candle to the praepositus, and remains there until
the Wood has been elevated in the four quarters of the ambo.
The emperor and patriarch then descend from the ambo and
enter the bema, and the Wood being placed before them
the emperor prays and kisses it, and coming out through
the side of the bema he is conducted by the patriarch

1 KaT^ov/Atva, a "place for instruction," used both of upper and lower
aisles.

2 The college with a provost (didaskalos) and twelve fellows was between
S. Sophia and the Chalkoprateia (see Bury, ii., p. 433), and therefore
according to Mordtmann north of S. Sophia. Descending steps are only-
found in the north porch, and this is conclusive against Labarte and
Paspates, who saw in the Didaskalion a mere passage attached to the south
side of the church. Paschalia are the tables of Easter.

RITUAL ARRANGEMENTS AND INTERIOR OF CHURCH 95

to the Holy Well, and having kissed it, he continues to
the palace."

It would almost appear that whereas in the time of
Arculph {circa 680) the Cross was kept in one of the north-
eastern chambers by the bema, in the time of Porphyro-
genitus (tenth century) it was preserved, during certain
periods, in a secretum accessible from the gynaeceum.
Possibly the small upper chapel on the south side with
mosaic ceiling, and the additions over the south porch, both
built about the tenth century, may be the chambers in
question. At the end of the ceremony the Cross was left
in the bema, and it may be that only on the occasion of
the Festival of the Cross was it taken up to the gallery, pre-
paratory to a procession through all parts of the church.

Procession to the Church. — The following is an account ot
a pageant, which is the first in the Book of Ceremonies — the
order of the royal procession to the Great Church. On the
day preceding the feast, notice was given so that the way
might be adorned with flowers. The emperor and princes
carried gifts, and processional candles, and the Cross of St.
Constantine.1 Priests were sent to receive him with the Cross
of the Lord, which was taken from the church by the
Sacristan {skeuophulax).

In proceeding to the church there were six " receptions."
Three were in various parts of the palace, " and the princes
come to the gate (Chalke), and the fourth reception takes
place outside the barrier of Chalke ; the fifth reception takes
place in front of the Great Gate which leads into the
Augusteum ; and the sixth reception is at the Horologium
of S. Sophia." 2

" And from thence the princes enter through the Beautiful
Gate, and have their crowns removed by the praepositi
within the curtain that hangs in the chamber, that is to say,
the propylaeum of the narthex. And the patriarch receives
them at the door of the narthex with the usual ceremony.
.... The lords remove their crowns, kiss the holy Gospel

1 At this time more than one " life-giving cross" was kept at the palace
and occasionally taken to S. Sophia. Cerem. 549.

2 Ed. Bonn, p. 14.

S. SOPHIA

carried by the archdeacon, greet the patriarch, and proceed
up to the royal doors. Bearing the candles and bowing
thrice, the entrance is made after a prayer by the patriarch ;
then those carrying the sceptres and vessels stand right and
left of the church ; but those bearing the banners and the
books stand on either side in the solea ; and the Cross of St.
Constantine is placed on the right side of the bema. And
when the lords come to the Holy Doors and to the porphyry
omphalion, the patriarch alone enters within the screen, by
the holy door on the left. The princes, after bowing thrice,
enter with the candles, following the patriarch, and coming
to the holy table they kiss the holy cloth, and they place
as is usual on the holy table the two white veils, and kiss the
holy chalices, and the two discs and the holy corporal cloth,
which are handed to them by the patriarch. And then by
the right-hand side of the bema the princes enter with the
patriarch the Kuklis, where is placed the Holy Crucifix of
gold, and again they bow with the candles three times
praising God ; and the patriarch gives the censer to the
emperor and he censes the crucifix : then they kiss the
patriarch, and take leave of him and enter the oratory,
which is in front of the metatorion, and there, bowing
three times and praising God, they kiss the Holy Cross
as well as all the Instruments of our Lord's Passion, and
then enter the metatorion."

CHAPTER VI

RELICS, TREASURE, AND THE LIGHTING OF THE. CHURCH

§ I. RELICS.

The True Cross. — There would seem to be little doubt
that a discovery was made about 326 of what was supposed
to be the true Cross. S. Cyril of Jerusalem, writing some
twenty-five years later, says that portions of the Cross were
spread all over the world. We have seen (p. 14) that
early historians relate that a portion of this precious relic
was sent to Constantinople by Helena. The principal part
however remained at Jerusalem until it was taken by
Chosroes. It is described by some of the pilgrims to the
holy city as being encased in silver. Brought back from
Persia by Heraclius in 628 together with the spear and
sponge, it rested for a brief interval in S. Sophia, where
it was " uplifted " ; but it was again returned to Jerusalem
until 636,1 when under the fear of the coming troubles the
larger portion at least was removed. Rohault de Fleury, who
devoted a folio volume to the Instruments of the Passion,
quotes a letter from Anseau, a priest of the Holy Sepulchre
in the twelfth century, which was sent to Paris with a portion
of the Cross. According to this account the Holy Wood was
divided into nineteen small Crosses, of which Constantinople
possessed three besides the " Cross of the Emperor," and
Jerusalem retained four. We have positive evidence that in
the century before Heraclius Constantinople was a centre
where portions of the Cross were to be obtained : thus

1 Drapeyron, V Empereur Her ac Hut, 279.

S. SOPHIA

Radegunde, wife of Clothaire, received a fragment from
Justin II. and Sophia in 569.1 At this time, according to
John of Ephesus, there was " a day of the adoration of the
Holy Cross of our Saviour ; on this festival the Cross is
brought out and set up in the Great Church, and the senate
and all the people of the city assemble to worship it." 2
Probably the Exaltation was celebrated concurrently at
Jerusalem and at Constantinople.

When we more definitely hear of the True Cross at S.
Sophia, it is evident, from the frequent occasions in which it
is transported to different parts of the church, and to the
palace, that it was quite small, a relic in fact.

Arculf (circa 680), as we have seen, describes it as kept in
a chest, on a golden altar, which was only two cubits long
by one broad. He says : " it should be specially noticed
that there are not two but three short pieces of wood in the
cross ; that is, the cross beam, and the long one divided into
two equal parts."

Now in the Menologium of Basil we have a representation
of the Exaltation of the Cross, which the patriarch is up-
lifting in an ambo. It is represented as a double cross made
up of three pieces, not of two. A miniature of the finding
of the Cross in the National Library of Paris shows the
same form. Didron remarks that the cross with double
branches probably originated in Greece, " for it is constantly
seen in Attica, in the Morea, and on Mount Athos." This
form appears frequently on the later coins of Constantinople,
and we find that most of the relics of the True Cross which
still exist on Mount Athos and other places are made up
with double arms. A reliquary for the fragment, said to be
that which was sent to Radegunde, was preserved in the
monastery of S. Cross at Poitiers in the last century. The
field was of cloisonne enamel, blue with here and there a
red flower. A drawing of this relic, of which we give an
outline,8 shows that this fragment of the True Cross was
made up in the double-armed form, which was repeated in

1 Fortunatus celebrated its acceptance by a hymn.

2 J. of Ephesus, cd. R. P. Smith, 140.

3 Figured in Molinier's V Emaillerie, Paris, 1 891 .

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 99

the relic at the Ste. Chapelle.1 Two such relics now at
Venice are doubly interesting, for besides a cross of this
form two supporting figures are represented which are
inscribed Constantine and Helena.2 Now Cedrenus and
other late writers say that in the Kamara of the Milion
were the figures of Constantine and his mother, with the
cross between them. The same composition appears in the

mosaics at the monastery of
S. Luke. The two Venice
relics bear the names of the
Empresses Maria (1180)
and Irene (1350).

Fig. 14 represents the
Poitiers reliquary; the True
Cross as shown in the Meno-
logium ; and a cross from a
late coin. We cannot doubt
that the Cross at Constanti-
nople was of this form.
Was it the result of the con-
junction of three pieces as
mentioned by Arculph, or
did the upper arm from the
first represent the label ?

With the Cross were
associated the other Instru-
ments of the Passion — the
Crown of Thorns, the
Sponge and Spear, and slabs
from the Tomb.
The catalogue of relics by Nicholas Thingeyrensis (1200)
says, " In S. Sophia is the Cross of the Lord which Helena
the Queen brought ; " 3 but at that time the greater part of
the Cross and other relics of the Passion seem to have
been transferred to the chapel in the palace of Boucoleon,
where they were seen by Robert de Clari (1200). The

1 Figured in Schlumberger's Nicepborus Phocas.

2 Sec Ongania, // Tesoro, Fig.' 33 and p. 102.

3 Riant, Ex. Sac. CP., vol. ii., p. 213.

H 2

Fig. 14.— Showing form of True Cross
at S. Sophia.

IOO

S. SOPHIA

anniversary of the day on which they were moved from
S. Sophia, August 14th, was kept as a holiday. According
to Paspates all the relics of the Passion were removed in
1234. Baldwin II. took the Crown of Thorns which was
acquired by S. Louis. It is evident, however, from the
later Pilgrims quoted below, and from Mandeville, that a
part of the Passion relics remained or that others were
acquired.

Other Treasure and Relics. — " Not only kings and
patriarchs, but also private individuals and monks brought
to Constantinople relics of the apostles and martyrs, ancient
ikons, and all kinds of sacred objects connected with the
saints of the church. Anything of value in the whole land
of Palestine was for the most part moved to Constanti-
nople, and such was the reverence for relics that no church,
monastery, nor oratory was built without them." 1 So early
as 415, when S. Sophia was rededicated, it was necessary to
have fresh relics (see page 16).

A description of the relics and the treasure of Constanti-
nople is given in the letter supposed to have been written in
1095 by Alexius Comnenus to Robert, Count of Flanders,
in which he craves the assistance of the West against the
Turks. After enumerating the relics scattered throughout
the city, he continues, " If you do not care to fight for these,
and gold will tempt you more, you will find more of it at
Constantinople than in the whole world, for the treasures
of its basilicas alone would be sufficient to furnish all the
churches of Christendom, and all their treasures cannot
together amount to those of S. Sophia, whose riches have
never been equalled even in the temple of Solomon."

The dispersion of the relics and treasures of S. Sophia
and the other churches at Constantinople has been exhaus-
tively treated by Count Riant.2 The description by
Anthony, Archbishop of Novgorod, who visited S. Sophia
in 1200, three years before the capture by the Crusaders,

1 Paspates, Byzantinae Meletae, p. 285.

2 Des Depouilles Religieuses enlevees a Constantinople au xiii Steele par les
Latins, 1875, and the fuller work, Exuviae Sacrae Constantinopolitanae,
1877.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 101

furnishes the best account of the accumulated riches of the
great church. We give this in full from the French version
contained in Itineraries Russes en Orient.1

" I, Antonius, Archbishop of Novgorod, an unworthy and
humble sinner, by the grace of God and by the help of
S. Sophia, who is the Wisdom and the Eternal Word, reached
in safety the imperial city, and entered the great Catholic
and Apostolic Church. We first worshipped S. Sophia,
kissing the two slabs of the Lord's sepulchre. Furthermore
we saw the seals, and the figure of the Mother of God,
nursing Christ. This image a Jew at Jerusalem pierced in
the neck with a knife, and blood flowed forth. The blood
of the image, all dried up, we saw in the smaller sanctuary.

" In the sanctuary of S. Sophia is the blood of the holy
martyr Pantaleon with milk,2 placed in a reliquary like a
little branch or bough, yet without their having mixed.
Besides that there is his head, and the head of the Apostle
Quadratus, and many relics of other saints : the heads of
Hermolaus and Stratonicus ; the arm of Germanus, which
is laid on those who are to be ordained patriarchs ; the
image of the Virgin which Germanus sent in a boat to
Rome by sea ; and the small marble table on which Christ
celebrated His Supper with the disciples, as well as His
swaddling clothes and the golden vessels, which the Magi
brought with their offerings.

" There is a large gold ' disc ' for the mass, given to the
patriarch by Olga, a Russian princess, when she came to the
imperial city to be baptized.3 In this disc there is a precious
stone which displays the image of Christ, and the seal-
impressions from this are used as charms ; but on the upper
side the disc is adorned with pearls.

" In the sanctuary is likewise preserved the real chariot
of Constantine and Helena, made of silver ; there are
gold plates, enriched with pearls and little jewels, and
numerous others of silver, which are used for the services on

1 Soc. Orient Latin. Series Geog., vol. v.

2 Alluded to on a single page of MS. in the British Museum (Cott.
Claud, iv.)

3 In the reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, see Ceremonies, vol. ii.,
ch. xv.

102

S. SOPHIA

Sundays and feast days : there is water also in the sanctuary
coming out of a well by pipes.

M Outside the smaller sanctuary 1 is erected the ' Crux
Mensuralis,' which shows the height of Christ when on
earth ; and behind that cross is buried Anna, who gave her
house to S. Sophia, where now is the smaller sanctuary, and
she is buried near. And near this same smaller sanctuary
are the figures of the holy women and of the Virgin Mother
holding Christ, and shedding tears which fall on the eyes of
Christ. They give of the water of the sanctuary for the
blessing of the world.

" In the same part is the chapel of S. Peter the Apostle,
where S. Theophania is buried. She was the guardian of
the keys of S. Sophia, which people used to kiss. There is
also suspended the carpet of S. Nicholas. The iron chains
of S. Peter are kept there in a gold chest ; during the feast
of * S. Peter's Chains ' the emperor, the patriarch, and all the
congregation kiss them [see Fig. 8]. Near by, in another
chapel, is also shown the crystal of the ancient ambo,
destroyed when the dome fell.

" By the side of [the images of] the holy women is the

tomb of the son of S. Athenogenius There are no

other tombs in S. Sophia except that, and a lamp hangs
in front of it, which once fell, full of oil, without being
broken. The place is inclosed by a wood screen, and the
people are not allowed to enter.

" When one turns towards the gate one sees at the side the
column of S. Gregory the Miracle- Worker, all covered with
bronze plates. S. Gregory appeared near this column, and
the people kiss it, and rub their breasts and shoulders against
it to be cured of their pains ; there is also the image of S.
Gregory. On his feast day the patriarch brings his relics to
this column. And there placed above a platform is a great
figure of the Saviour in mosaic ; it lacks the little finger of
the right hand. When it was finished, the artist looked at
it and said, « Lord, I have made thee as if alive.' Then a
voice coming from the picture said, « When hast thou seen

1 The French translation has Diako?iikon: Riant, in Exuv. Sacrae,
CP. says "smaller sanctuary : " the Anon, says skeuophylakium,

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 103

me ? ' The artist was struck dumb and died, and the finger
was not finished, but was made in silver-gilt.

" Above the gate is depicted on a large panel the
Emperor Leo the Wise, and in front of it is a precious
stone, which illuminates S. Sophia at night-time. This
same Emperor Leo took a certain writing from Babylon,
which was found in the tomb of the prophet Daniel. It was
copied, and on it were written the names of the Greek
emperors. At the royal gate is a bronze romanistum1 or
bolt by which the door is closed. Men and women are
brought to it, and if they have drunk serpent poison or
any other poison, they cannot remove the bolt from the
mouth, until all the evil of the disease has trickled away
with the saliva.

" By the great altar on the left is the place where an angel
of the Lord appeared to the boy who was guarding the
workmen's tools, and said, • I will not leave this spot as long
as S. Sophia shall remain.' Three figures are shown in this
place, for the angels are painted there ; and a multitude of
people come there to pray to God. Not far from there
is the place where they boil the holy oil, burning under-
neath it old ikons, whose features one can no longer trace.
With this oil they anoint children at baptism. Above the
sanctuary there rises in the air a great hollow vault covered
with gold. In the sanctuary are eighty candelabra of silver
for use on feast days, which occupy the first place, besides
numberless silver candelabra with many golden apples.

" Above the great altar in the middle is hung the crown
of the Emperor Constantine, set with precious stones and
pearls. Below it is a golden cross, which overhangs a
golden dove. The crowns of the other emperors are hung
round the ciborium, which is entirely made of silver and
gold. Thus the altar pillars and the sanctuary and the
bema are built of gold and silver, ingeniously made, and
very costly. From the same ciborium hang thirty smaller
crowns, as a remembrance to Christians of the pieces of
money of Judas. To the ciborium were attached curtains,

1 This must be the same as Robert de Clari's "buhotiaous" fastened
to the ring of the great door of S. Sophia.

S. SOPHIA

which were formerly drawn by the bishops during the
services. We asked why they did so, and they answered
so that the priests should not see the women and the
people, but should serve the supreme God with a pure
heart and soul. Later the heretics,1 when nobody could
see them as they were behind the curtains, took the body
and blood of Christ, and spat them out, and trampled
on them. The Spirit warned the fathers of this heresy, and
the fathers fixed the curtains to the columns of the ciborium,
and set an archdeacon near the patriarch, metropolitan, or
bishop, so that they should worship God holily without
heresy. . . . When Jerusalem was taken by Titus many
sacred vessels and curtains were brought to [New] Rome
with the royal treasures and given to the church of S.
Sophia. In S. Sophia also are preserved the tables of the
Law, as well as the Ark and manna. The subdeacons, when
they sing ' Alleluia ' in the ambo, hold in their hands tablets
like those of Moses. During the procession of the Holy
Sacrament the eunuchs commence to sing, and then the
subdeacons, and then a monk chants alone. Then many
priests and deacons carry the Holy Sacrament in procession ;
at this time all the people not only below, but also in the
galleries, weep in great humility. What then ought to be
the fear and humility of the bishops, the priests, and the
deacons in this holy service ?

"How magnificent are the gold and silver chalices,
garnished with precious stones and pearls ! When the
splendid chest, called Jerusalem, is brought out with the
flabella, there rises amongst the people a great groaning

and weeping But here is a wonderful miracle, which

we saw in S. Sophia. Behind the altar of the larger
sanctuary is a gold cross, higher than two men, set with
precious stones and pearls. There hangs before it another
gold cross a cubit and a half long, with three gold lamps,
which hang from as many gold arms (the fourth is now
lost). These lamps, the arms or branches, and the cross,
were made by the great Emperor Justinian who built S.

1 I.e., the iconoclasts, of whom a number of stories are told by the
Russian pilgrims.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 105

Sophia. By virtue of the Holy Spirit the small cross with
the lamps ascended above the big cross, and again slowly
came down again without going out. This miracle took
place after matins, before the commencement of the mass :
the priests who were in the sanctuary saw it, and all the
people in the church who saw it cried with fear and joy,
* God in His mercy has visited us.' . . . This great and
wonderful miracle was wrought by God in the year 6708
[a.m.] on Sunday, May 21st, being the Commemoration of
S. Constantine and his mother Helena, during the reign of
the Emperor Alexius and the patriarchate of John. It was
on the feast of the 318 fathers. Iverdiatinus Ostromitza was
then living at Constantinople ; he was an ambassador from
the great Roman duke. Nedanus, Domagirus, Demetrius,
and Novgaro were also there.

" At S. Sophia on the right near the sanctuary is a piece of
red marble, on which they place a golden throne ; on this
throne the emperor is crowned. This place was surrounded
by bronze closures to prevent people walking on it ; but
the people kiss it. At this place the Holy Virgin prayed to
her Son, our Lord, on behalf of all Christians ; a priest who
was guarding the church at night saw her. On the same
side is also the grand icon of S. Boris and S. Glebe, which
artists copy. When officiating, the patriarch holds it high
up in the tribune.

" In the chapel behind the altar are affixed to the wall the
upper slab of the Lord's sepulchre, the hammer, the gimlet,
and the saw, with which the cross of the Lord was made ;
also the iron chain which was hung to the gate of S. Peter's
prison, and the wood of the cross which Christ's neck
touched. This is inserted in a reliquary in the form of a
cross. In this chapel above the door is painted S. Stephen,
protomartyr, and a lamp is hung before him ; when any one
has bad eyes, they put round his head the rope by which
this lamp is hung, and his eyes are healed.

" There is also the figure of Christ whose neck the Jew
struck, 1 and the bronze trumpet of Joshua, who took
Jericho, and the marble mouth of the well of Samaria.
1 See this story in Golden Legend, " Exaltation of the Cross."

io6

S. SOPHIA

Near it Christ said to the woman of Samaria, ' Give me to
drink ; ' the well mouth has been cut in half, and the
Samaritans still draw water [from the other half].

" There lie also the bodies of S. Abercius, S. Gregory, and
S. Sylvester, and the heads of Cyrus and John, and many
other relics. There also is the Baptistery, upon which is
painted all the history of the baptism of Christ by John in
the Jordan : and how John taught the people, and how
little children and men threw themselves in the Jordan : all
this was executed by Paul the Skilful during my lifetime,
and there is no painting like this. There are there wooden
supports, upon which the patriarch has had placed the figure
of Christ, thirty cubits high ; Paul first painted the Christ
with colours made of precious stones and crushed pearls
mixed with water ; this image is still at S. Sophia.

" And when they sing matins at S. Sophia, they sing first
before the great doors of the church, in the narthex, then
they enter and sing in the middle of the church ; then they
open the paradise gates, and sing the third time before the
altar. Sundays and saints' days the patriarch assists at
matins and at mass, then he blesses the singers from the
ambo, they stop singing and then say the polykronia : then
they begin to sing again, and sing as harmoniously and
sweetly as the angels till the Mass. After matins are
finished, they put off their surplices and then go out and
ask the patriarch's benediction for the mass. After matins
the prologue is read in the ambo till the mass ; when the
prologue is finished, the liturgy is commenced, and, after the
service is over, the chief priest in the sanctuary recites the
prayer called * Of the ambo,' while the second priest recites
it in the church on the side of the ambo, away from [the
sanctuary] : both, when the prayer is finished, bless the
people. In a similar way vespers are sung. There are no
bells at S. Sophia, but a little hand-bat \]iagiosidere\ which
they strike for matins, though they do not strike it for mass
and vespers, as in other churches : they follow the precepts of

the angel in having this bat ; the Latins have bells

When they built S. Sophia, they inclosed holy relics in
the walls of the sanctuary. There are also many cisterns at

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 107

S. Sophia. Above [evidently under] the galleries are the
cisterns and storehouses of the patriarchs and of the Church.
Vegetables of every kind [suitable for the table] of the
patriarchs, melons, apples, and pears are preserved at the
bottom of the cisterns in baskets hung by cords : when the
patriarch wants to eat, they bring them up quite fresh : and
the emperor eats them also. The bath of the patriarch is
also above [under] the galleries ; the water of the fountains
mounts by pipes, and the rainwater is preserved in cisterns.
On the galleries are painted all the patriarchs and emperors
of Constantinople, and those who snared their heresies. In
the choirs of the church are five heads ornamented with pearls

like a silver [word indecipherable] Lazarus, the

image painter 1 . . . first painted at Constantinople, in the
sanctuary of S. Sophia, the Virgin holding Christ and two

angels S. Sophia has 3,000 priests ; 500 share in the

benefices of the church and 1,500 have no share ; when one of
the 500 priests dies, his place is taken by one of the 1,500."

Frankish Occupation and After. — Three years after the
visit of Anthony, Constantinople was taken by the Latins.
One of the Crusaders, Villehardouin, writes, "Of holy
relics I need only say it contained more than all Chris-
tendom combined ; there is no estimating the quantity
of gold, silver, precious vessels, jewels, rich stuffs, silks,
robes of vair, gris, and ermine, and other valuable things
— the production of all the climates in the world. It
is the belief of me, Geoffrey Villehardouin, marechal of
Champagne, that the plunder of this city exceeded all that
has been witnessed since the creation of the world."

Much of the accumulated wealth of six centuries — the
gifts from emperors and private individuals of "sacred
vessels of gold and pearls and precious stones " 2 — was
removed by the Venetians and Franks. Many of these
precious objects are lost beyond hope of recovery ; such are

1 Lazarus was a martyr in the cause of image-worship. See Bayct,
Vart Byzantin.

2 Cedrenus, ii., p. 609. Irene gave a cross "distinguished for its
pearls" : Theo. Cont., p. 703.

ioS

S. SOPHIA

the candlesticks and crosses. As some representation of
these we give a figure of a gemmed processional cross, with
its seizae of jewels, from the Menologium of Basil (Fig. 15).

In the treasury of S. Mark's
at Venice there is however a
rich hoard of vessels, lamps,
and other objects, which were
taken from the churches of
Constantinople ; and many of
these crystal lamps, agate cups,
and enamelled book-covers
doubtless belonged to S.
Sophia.

Amongst these may be men-
tioned an agate chalice with
the name Sisinnius. This may
probably be referred to a
Patriarch of Constantinople of
that name in 996 ; another
with the name Ignatius to a
patriarch in 877 ; a third with
the inscription " Lord help
Romanus, the Orthodox Em-
peror " to Romanus Lecapenus
(919 — 944). 1 Extracts from
the Venetian historians men-
tioning objects brought from
Constantinople are given by
Riant. Paulus Maurocenus
speaks of " the many holy
relics, and small figures, and
chalices and patens and other
beautiful things from the

Fig. 15.— Jewelled Processional Cross, church of S. Sophia ; " also,

"the very same doors which
now close the church of S. Mark's .... and two censers
of gold from S. Sophia of such grace and beauty that
one cannot see them without being astounded." He also
1 Ongania, // Tesoro di San Marco, pp. 57, 59. Rohault de Fleury, La Mem.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 109

mentions, though it is not quite clear if he associates this
with S. Sophia, " The palla of silver-gilt with the figures of
our Lord, the Virgin, the Apostles, prophets, doctors, and
martyrs, which is now placed in the church of S. Mark." 1

The head of S. Pantaleon was taken by Henrich Ulmen to
the church of the saint at Cologne.

After the interregnum, S. Sophia was visited by several
other Russian pilgrims, who have left accounts of the church
which agree very closely. Of the fullest of these, which is
by an anonymous Russian writer, 1424-1453, we give a con-
densed abstract, as it contains one or two more points, shows
the acquisition of other relics in the place of those lost, and
is useful for comparison with the anonymous Greek author
translated in the next chapter: —

Near the west door in the middle of the narthex are the
doors of the ark of Noah and the chain which bound the
apostle Paul. Above the door is the miraculous image of
the Saviour, and a lamp is suspended before it. In the
sanctuary is the life-giving Cross on which the Jews crucified
Christ. The stone on which He sat and conversed with the
woman of Samaria is in the chapel on the right. Here is
the table of Abraham. At the bottom of the church against
the wall to the right of the altar is the bed of iron on which
martyrs were burnt. Here is a stone coffer with relics of
Martyrs and the Innocents. To the left is the tomb and
the whole body of Arsenius : the doors of the ark : the
bench where Jeremiah the prophet wept, and a column by
which Peter wept. To the left are buried S. George and
S. Theologos. On the left is a little shrine beautifully
built ; it contains the image of the Virgin which wept when
the Franks held Constantinople. Her tears, resembling pearls,
are kept in a coffer before the image. The instruments of the
Passion are exposed from Thursday to Saturday. Beyond is
the image of Christ in marble, and the cross of S. John chained
to the wall. Near the Holy Table in the bema is the tomb of
S. John Chrysostom, covered by a plank overlaid with gold and
gems. To the right on entering the church are situated a well
and large basin of marble in which the patriarch baptizes. One
1 Exuviae Sacrae Constantinopolitanae.

110

S. SOPHIA

leaves S. Sophia by the south door ; at some steps from the gate,
to the left, is the Church of the Holy Saviour ; above the door
is suspended an image which an emperor attempted to destroy.
Behind the bema of S. Sophia is the church of S. Nicholas.
Near by in front of the door which is behind the altar of
S. Sophia is the place where they bless the water, plunging
in the Cross ; a roof covered with lead surmounts the basin
of green marble. It is here they baptize the emperors ;
four cypresses and two palms form a crescent in this place.
Some distance in front of the ambo of S. Sophia is a
pedestal of marble which supports the holy chalice ; it is
within a stone inclosure, and is covered by a vault of gilt
copper. From the entrance of the church to the ambo is 66
cubits, and it is 30 beyond to the sanctuary, which is 50 long
by 100 wide. The church is 200 cubits wide and 150
high. Above the first door is Solomon in mosaic in a circle
of azure.

That these accounts accurately relate the stories of the
guardians of S. Sophia is sufficiently proved by La Brocquiere,
who was told in 1433 that S. Sophia possessed "one of the
robes of our Lord, the end of the lance that pierced His side,
the sponge that was offered to Him, and the reed that was put
in His hand. I can only say that behind the choir I was
shown the gridiron on which S. Lawrence was roasted [the
iron bed], and a large basin-like stone on which they say
Abraham gave the angels food when they were going to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah."

§ 2. LIGHTING.

The description by the Silentiary 1 of the lamps and cande-
labra which illuminated the Great Church forms one of the
most fascinating parts of the whole poem. Although the
multitude of lamps which once lit up the interior have long
disappeared, the main features of the lighting may be brought
back to our imaginations by comparing the description with
illustrative examples. First then in the central space under

1 See our p. 49.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH in

the great dome, chains fell from the height of the upper
cornice, where they were probably attached to strong bronze
arms which projected far out like the present metal stakes
which project in the exedras on the first-floor cornice. These
chains all terminated at some height above the floor in sup-
porting the great sweep of a metal circle to which were
suspended flat circular discs of silver, each of which was
pierced with holes into which were dropped glass oil vases
with rims which prevented them falling through. With these
discs were associated crosses of metal which also carried lamps.
These, cross and disc together, or alternately, hanging round
in a great circle made a " circling chorus of bright lights "
within which was a large corona of other lamps and above it
a large central disc.

Then along the sides of the church were rows of lamps in
the forms of silver bowls, and ships ; other rows of lights
were attached to beams supported above the floor by metal
standards, and to projecting metal arms, or suspended
rods. Upon the beam of the iconostasis was a row of
candelabra, each with a series of horizontal circles diminishing
upwards about the stem, like a fir-tree, issuing from a silver
bowl. Above the centre of the iconostasis was a great
standard light-bearing cross. Round about the ambo
similar light trees were placed.

Light coronae, crosses, or single lamps were favourite
gifts to a church, and in these objects S. Sophia probably
became much more wealthy as time went on. Michael III.,
for instance, gave to the church in 867 "a circle (kuklos)
for lights which they call a polycandelon, as big as any of the
others but all of gold weighing sixty pounds. To it was
given the first and most holy place." 1 "A chalice and paten
superior to all the others, as well as a polycandelon in the
form of a cross with many lamps," are also mentioned as given
by Michael. His successor Basil I., " as there was a danger
of the sacred lamps being extinguished for want of oil,"
assigned for the use of the church "the tribute called
mantea, so that the light might never be quenched." 2 The

1 Theoph. Contin., ed. Bonn, p. 21 1.

2 Ibid., Life of Basil, ch. 79.

112

S. SOPHIA

Anonymous doubtless exaggerates beyond belief with his
300 polycandela and 6000 lamps all of gold, but the kinds

Fig. 16. — PoJycandelon or Disc, for Seventeen Lamps, in the British Museum.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 113

of candelabra he speaks of must have been perfectly well
known (p. 140).

At the end of the twelfth century, Robert de Clari, the
knight of Amiens, wrote — " Throughout the church hang one
hundred candelabra, and there is not one which does not hang
from a silver chain as thick as a man's arm, and each cande-
labrum has quite twenty-five lamps or more, and there
is not a single candelabrum which is not worth two
hundred silver marks." Benjamin of Tudela mentions
" candelabra, lamps, and lanterns, of gold and silver more
than any man can name ; " and Stephen of Novgorod
(1350) speaks of "a multitude immense, innumerable, of
lamps."

Of the great brilliance of illumination obtained in the
early churches there can be no doubt. Paulinus writes that
at his church at Nola the lights were suspended in such pro-
fusion that they seemed to float in a sea. An interesting
account of the method of lighting followed at the Lateran,
illustrated by a plan of the circles, is given by Rohault de
Fleury.1

A Byzantine lamp-holder lately sent to the Louvre from
Constantinople is probably almost identical in general form
with the " discs " of Paul us. This polycandelon is a broad
flat ring of bronze pierced with eight holes for as many
lights, and suspended by four chains. It bears a votive
inscription which reads, " Lord, remember thee of Thy servant
Abraham, son of Constantine." 2

In the British Museum is a much more ornate example of
the same kind of disc. This is also of bronze, about six-
teen inches diameter, pierced with seventeen holes for the
lights, the interspaces being cut away to form a radiating
pattern. We give a drawing of this interesting lamp, with
which we have associated a small pierced plate for a lamp
chain in the same collection (Fig. 16). In the Archaeo-
logical Museum at Granada there is an ornamental disc
closely resembling the example in the British Museum. It
came from the mosque of Elvira, and probably belongs to

1 La Messe, vol. vi., p. 78.

2 See fig. in Byz. Zeitschrift, 1893, p. 14.2.

i- 14

S. SOPHIA

the ninth century.
We mention this
because the bot-
tom plate of the
modern mosque
lamp with the
small holes which
take glass tubular
vessels eight or
ten inches long
and only about
two inches in di-
ameter, continues
the tradition of
the Byzantine
polycandela, and
the oil vessels well
represent those
like spear shafts
mentioned by the
Poet.

In another ex-
ample in the
British Museum
the disc is not
quite flat but of
the form of a din-
ner plate, the holes for the lamps being around the rim.
This lamp-holder is of silver, and was brought from Lamp-
sacus near Gallipoli with several altar vessels inscribed
with a monogram which reads MHNA or AMHN. In
Fig. 17 we have restored the oil vases* Another bronze
polycandelon has recently been brought from Egypt by
Professor Flinders Petrie : this is about eight inches across
(Fig. 1 8i).

1 In the figure 18 the attachment for the chain is shown at A, the
chain of monograms is taken from Rossi, B shows the provision for the
chains in the last example (Fig. 17), where there is a slight mistake, the
alternate piercings in the rim being crosses as here shown.

FlG. 17. — Silver Polycandelon from Lampsacus,
in the British Museum.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 115

On Mount Athos
we probably find
the best existing
parallel to the circle
of discs at S. Sophia
in the monastery of
Docheiareiu (see
Fig. 19).1 In the
words of the Silen-
tiary, " these discs
form a coronet."

The second crown
of lights, which hung
within the great
circle of discs at S.
Sophia, would also
have had a circular
rim supported by
chains with lamps
suspended beneath,
or attached to arms

FlG. 18. — Coptic Polycandelon for Four Lamps. projecting from the

rim. S. Bernard
speaks of a church where were placed " not crowns but wheels
with precious stones and lights around them." To these
circular candelabra ecclesiastical writers usually give the title
of coronae. Leo III. gave to the basilica of S. Andrew at
Rome a " gold corona of lamps set with gems." Other
authors call crowns with lamps of this kind phara ; we read
in Leo Ostiensis of a " pharum or large crown of silver with
six and thirty lamps hanging from it." 2 They are also
spoken of as cycli, but more generally as -polycandela. The
Chronicon Cassinense mentions " a pharos or crown of silver,
weighing a hundred librae, twenty cubits round about, with
twelve towers projecting from it, and thirty-six lamps hang-
ing from it. This was fixed outside the choir, before the
great cross, by an iron chain adorned with seven gold apples." 3

1 Adapted from a photographic view in A. Riley's Mountain »f the
Monks. 2 Du Cange. 3 Lib. iii. This was at Milan.

I 2

S. SOPHIA

The same chronicle also speaks of a "silver-gilt corona,
coloured with precious stones, with six crosses hanging from
it." The great circles of Aix and Hildesheim are the best-
known examples of the ancient coronae. These have twelve
towers like that just mentioned, and they symbolised the
New Jerusalem. R. de Fleury suggests that relics were

Fig. 19, — Corona with Lamp Discs, Mount Athos.

contained in such turrets. An extremely beautiful pharos
in the Hermitage Museum represents a basilica.

The light crosses were very generally known throughout
Christendom, and the historian Socrates mentions that
crosses of silver with burning candles upon them were
carried in processions in the time of Chrysostom. Accord-
ing to Anastasius, at S. Peter's there was a large pharos " in
the form of a cross which hung before the presbyterium
having 1,370 candles ; " this was lighted four times a year ;

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 117

also " a gold carved cross hanging before the altar with twelve
candles," and " a cross lamp with two little ships and three
fishes." The lamp cross hanging in S. Mark's is the best-
known example remaining. It is possible that those at S.
Sophia mentioned with the discs hung horizontally to four
chains.

At S. Sophia, in addition to the discs, crosses, and circles,
there were, according to Du Cange, lamps hung from nets.
The word Iwhich he interprets in this way is that translated
"skiff" (line 480), as it means a small row-boat. How he

Fig. 20. — Single Lamp with Votive Inscription.

gets his interpretation of nets it is difficult to see. We
mention it here for its intrinsic beauty only : it was a familiar
arrangement for lamps. Anastasius in his Lives of the
Popes speaks of one of the churches at Rome having
" a pharos in the form of a net," and again of a large pharos
" like a net with twenty baskets," and also " a bronze net
with silver baskets."

The hanging lamps in the form of ships mentioned by our
poet would have carried the oil vessels round their sides. A
most interesting example of a lamp of this kind is given in
the Dictionary of Christian Antiquities (Smith and Cheet-
ham). It represents a small vessel with a mast and sail, con-

S. SOPHIA

taining two figures, one steering, and the other
looking out from the prow. These figures are
either Peter and Paul or more probably Christ
and Peter. The symbolism of the ship for the
Church is too familiar to need comment ; the
mast in the centre, without which the ship is
unsafe, as S. Ambrose says, typifies the cross
without which the church is unable to stand.
The galley form of lamp was well known also
in antiquity. In the Christian era it was only
one of the many beautiful and suggestive forms
in which lamps were made ; some resembled
birds, crystal fish, or shells, others again were
bowls of white or emerald glass.

In the sanctuary there would have been sus-
pended large single lamps which burnt per-
petually (Akoimetoi). A very fine single
Byzantine lamp of this kind is shown in the
fifteenth-century picture by Marco Marziale in
the National Gallery, in which the interior of
S. Mark's figures as the temple. In Fig. 20 we
give a restoration of fragments of a beautiful
early Christian bowl-shaped lamp bearing a
votive inscription figured by Rossi. On Mount
Athos Dr. Covel noticed a lamp of beaten gold
set with jewels.

The treasury of S. Mark's probably still
contains lamps which hung in S. Sophia : one
of especial beauty is a glass bowl with circles cut on ^ the
outside and attached to a metal rim on which is inscribed
in Greek, " St. Panteleon, succour thy servant Zacchariah,
Archbishop of Iberia, Amen." 1

In illustration of the tree-like candelabra which stood
above the beam of the iconastasis, and round the ambo, we
may mention the well-known classical examples. A lamp-
bearer in the museum at Brussels is described as " ah arbuste
of considerable size and irregular trunk and branches with
lamps suspended from the extremities of its boughs."
1 For this and other lamps sec especially La Messe and II Tesoro.

Fig. 21.
Sixth-century
Candlestick.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 119

Anastasius mentions a " tree of bronze
with candlesticks- to the number of
fifty in which were placed wax candles,
thirty-six lamps as well hung from
the boughs." Paulinus also speaks
of hanging candelabra at Nola " with
branches like a vine bearing little
glass cups which resembled burning
fruit ; when they were lighted it was
like the sudden burst into life of
spring flowers."

Besides all these oil lamps there
would have been a great number of
Fig. 22.— Candiiesticks. standing candlesticks in the sanctuary.

The Anonymous speaks of some the
height of a man. One constant type is represented in
Fig. 21 ; this is inlaid in mother-of-pearl on the apse
walls at Paremzo, and is of Justinian's time. Fig. 22 shows
two others from the Menologium. Wax candles, which are
frequently mentioned, were patterned and coloured.

The miracile of the moving cross of lights mentioned by
Anthony remiinds us of a remarkable custom in regard to the
great coronas <of lights in Byzantine churches which is observed
on Mount Atthos, and also at Sinai, and is probably ancient.
A part of thte great festival service at Vatopedi consists in
singing the P olyeleos. " When the last of the multitude of
candles had been lighted in the great coronas under the domes,
the monks fetched long poles, with which they pushed out
the candelabna to the full extent that their suspending chains
permitted and then let them go, the result being that in a
few minutes the whole church was filled with slowly swinging
lights." 1

The method of lighting described by the Silentiary has
not changed im the unchanging East. S. Sophia is still lighted
by a myriad liittle lamps arranged in rows, or suspended in
circles. The single lamp is a small glass vessel of oil on
which floats tlhe wick ; the two typical forms being like a bowl
or an elongated tumbler. These cups are hung by three chains,
1 A. Riley, Mountain of the Monks.

120

S. SOPHIA

or inserted in a ring, at the end of a metal arm, projecting
from the wall or from the rim of a suspended circle.

Up to the time of Fossati's restoration there was an
immense polygon of probably some sixty feet diameter of
iron rods suspended from the dome. Grelot 1 described it in
1680 as a large circle of iron rods hanging down to within
eight or ten feet of the pavement and having fixed to it " a
prodigious number of lamps, ostrich eggs, and other baubles."
In the mosque of Achmet, several rings are bound together
by straight rods, making overhead a geometrical arrangement

Fig. 23.— Hanging Rods for Lamps in S. Sophia until 1850.

of bars, from which the lamps are suspended ; although
these are all Turkish, the system remained from Byzantine
times. Fig. 23 is re-drawn from Fossati. {Ay a Sophia,
Constantinople, 1852.) One of the most beautiful methods
is that of suspending the lamps to long straight iron bars
running the whole longth of the building as at S. John
Studius.

In the mosque of Damascus, before the recent fire, there
were hanging assemblages of circles one above another some-
what similar we may suppose to the trees of the poet. At

1 P- i54.

RELICS, TREASURE, AND LIGHTING OF CHURCH 121

Salonica a network of lamps which hangs almost like a
curtain before the bema of S. Demetrius may illustrate the
" nets," if nets there were. During Ramazan festoons of
lamps are hung from minaret to minaret arranged in in-
scriptions ; in 1676 Dr. Covel of Cambridge saw illumina-
tions before the Sultan at Adrianople which represented
" castles, mosques, peacocks, Turkish writings, &c, extremely
pleasant and wonderful to behold." These were formed by
lamps hung to light frames ; the method was probably
derived from Byzantine illuminations such as the fireworks
mentioned as being exhibited in the Hippodrome.

The four marble pillars that stand up out of the parapet at
the western gallery of S. Sophia (Fig. 41) must always have
carried lights on metal branches at the top, much as at
present ; and the long metal stakes with hook ends, that
project from the first cornice at the angles of the exedras,
and from which chandeliers hang, are possibly original in
some cases.

The multiplication of small lights is the most brilliant
system of illumination, for not only is there light everywhere
but flame, and hence no shadows. Whoever sees the great
church lighted for the solemn services of Ramazan, when,
according to Fossati, " six thousand lamps are suspended at
various heights," may imagine the splendour of the lighted
interior in Byzantine times. When, after one of the services,
the lamplighters walked round and extinguished the lamps
with a whisk from long fan-shaped brooms, we saw the need
of the passages above the different cornices ; and leaving
Constantinople one April evening, as we slowly wound round
the point, while the circle of windows in the lighted dome
seemed to hang above the city, we realised that it was no idle
saying of the poet's that the mariner guided his laden vessel
"by the divine light of the church itself."

CHAPTER VII

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS
§ I. HISTORY.

From the date of the completion of Justinian's restored
church it has had to withstand the frequent earthquake
shocks which, as we have so recently seen, devastate the
city from time to time Von Hammer1 calculates, from
the accounts of the Byzantine historians, that from the
beginning of the seventh to the middle of the fifteenth
century there were twenty-three severe earthquakes, one of
which, in 1033, lasted intermittently for 140 days. In the
Turkish records, from 1511 to 1765, ten earthquakes are
mentioned. It is remarkable that in this length of time the
delicately poised construction of the church should only have
required restorations which are relatively unimportant.

It is difficult to say how far the church suffered during the
struggles about image worship, which raged for more than a
century. The question will be considered more fully when we
deal with the mosaics of the vaults. The restoration of
images was finally accomplished in 842,2 by Theodora and
Michael.

A belfry was built in the centre of the west front about
the year 865 : 3 and the eastern walk of the atrium was
probably transformed into an exonarthex at the same time.

1 Constantinopolis und aer Bosporus, vol. i., pp. 36-44.

2 The images were restored in S. Sophia on the 19th of February.
Pagi. Critica in Universos Annales Baronii, vol. iii., p. 587.

3 Goar's Euchologium, 1647, p. 560.

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS 123

FiG. 24.— Plans of Additions to West End. A and C North and South
Porches ; B Belfry.

The first regular restoration was also undertaken in the
second half of the ninth century, under Basil the Mace-
donian : " For the wide and lofty western arch of the great
church called S. Sophia was showing rents and threatening to
fall. With the help of the workmen he girded it round and
rebuilt it, so that it was safe and strong. And on it he
figured the Virgin with her Child on her arms, and Peter
and Paul, the chief of the apostles, on either side." 1

The north and south porches and great lateral stairways,
which injuriously altered the exterior, must also have been
built by Michael or Basil, as we find them mentioned in the
Book of Ceremonies.

In October 975 an earthquake caused the "hemisphere
with the western arch {apsis) to fall." 2 They were restored
again by the same emperor in six years : he spent, Scylitzes
says, " on the machines for mounting for the workmen to
stand on, and for raising the scaffolding, to build what was
fallen ; ten centenaria of gold." 3 According to Glycas,
Romanus Argyrus (1028) beautified the capitals; Scylitzes
also says this emperor " made bright with silver and gold
both the capitals of the great church and of our Lady of
Blachernae." 4

1 Cons. Porph. Life of Basil, ch. 79.

2 Leo Diaconus, ed. Bonn, p. 176.

3 Du Cange, S. Sophia, § 35. 4 Paspates, Byzantinae Meletae.

124

S. SOPHIA

The injuries wrought by the Crusaders to S. Sophia are
referred to in Chapter V. Baldwin was crowned here in 1 204,
and for fifty-seven years Catholic priests read masses at its
altar. On the recapture the Byzantine emperors made an
effort to restore, but the church never recovered its former
splendour. The patriarch Arsenius during the reign of
Michael Palaeologos " restored the bema and ambo and solea
at the king's expense, besides enriching the church with
vestments and sacred vessels." 1 In the first half of the
fourteenth century, Andronicus Palaeologus, the elder,
strengthened the north and east sides. Nicephorus Gregoras
says the emperor " heard from several experienced builders
that in a short time the parts towards the north and east
would give way, and fall unless strengthened. And he
built pyramidal structures from the foundations and pre-
vented the threatened destruction," but bricks and mosaic
continued to fall.2 The pyramidal structures to the east
must be the four great sloping buttresses which stand over
the low attached buildings on that side ; they are shown on
Fossati's plan. Gregoras also inveighs against the Empress
Anna as having, in the reign of Cantacuzenus, robbed the
church of furniture and ornaments, and says that tyranny
and oppression were the chief causes of the destruction of
the church. Cantacuzenus, in his own history,3 speaks of the
damage caused by an earthquake in 1 346, when about a third
of the roof fell, destroying " the great stoa by the side of the
bema " (perhaps the iconostasis). This is also referred to by
Gregoras, " the easternmost of the four arches which rival
heaven fell, dragging with it the part of the house which
rested on it. The hidden beauty of the bema was destroyed
as well as its ornaments of sacred icons." 4 The stoa and bema
were restored by the Empress Anna, the wife of Andronicus
Palaeologos, Phaceolatus being prefect of the works, but the
upper parts with the roof had to wait until the accession of
Cantacuzenus in 1347. He restored the decoration both in
marble and mosaic, a work which John Palaeologus finished.

1 Pachymeres, ed. Bonn, i., p. 172.

2 Hist. Byzan., ed. Bonn, p. 273.

3 Ed. Bonn, lib. iv., p. 29. 4 Nicephorus Gregoras, p. 749.

Later history and legends 12$

Both emperors were helped " by one Astras, in many things
a clever man, but especially in building, and by John, sur-
named Peralta, one of the Latin subjects of the emperor." 1

The church was necessarily much neglected in the last
days of the Empire. Clavijo, who gave a careful account of
the church in 1403 (see Chapter IX.), says " the outer gates by
which the church was approached were broken and fallen."
He notes that " the Greeks do not call Constantinople as we
name it, but speak of it as EscomboUr This clearly proves that
the derivation of the Turkish name Istambul from eh rrjv
ttoXiv, " to the city," is correct.2

The Florentine Bondelmontius, who was there in 1422,
says that " only the dome of the church remained, as every-
thing is fallen down and in ruins." This exaggeration is
probably explained by a story given by the Chevalier Ber-
trandon de la Brocquiere, who visited the city eleven years
later, in the course of his remarkable ride from Damascus to
Dijon along the route of the present Oriental express. He
attended service in the church, and writes : — " There the
patriarch resides, with others of the rank of canons. It is
situated near the eastern point, is of a circular shape, and
formed of three different parts, one subterranean, another
above the ground, and a third over that. Formerly it was
surrounded by cloisters, and was, it was said, three miles
in circumference.3 It is now of smaller extent, and only
three cloisters remain, all paved and inlaid with squares of
white marble, and ornamented with large columns of various
colours. The gates are remarkable for their breadth and
height, and are of bronze." 4 The visit of the Chevalier
Bertrandon brings us within twenty years of the fall of the
great city.

The incidents of the later years of the empire, the vain
efforts to get help from Europe, and the schemes for uniting
the Greek and Latin churches, are described by Chedomil

1 Cantacuz., ed. Bonn, p. 30.

2 Compare Tozer's Turkey, i. 97. He says Constantinople is still con-
stantly called " the City " all over the Levant.

3 Gyllius reports a similar story.

4 Wright's Early Travels in Palestine.

S. SOPHIA

Mijatovich.1 In the year before the Fall the negotiations
with the West had proceeded so far, that, on the 1 2th of
December 1452, a Te Deum after the Latin rite was sung by
Cardinal Isidore in S. Sophia, but this did not meet with
favour from the populace. Ducas speaks of the church after
that time as being nothing better than a Jewish synagogue or
heathen temple. Five months later, on the 28th of May
1453, the last Christian service was held within its walls.
At the vesper service on that solemn evening, the emperor,
after praying with great fervour, left his imperial chair, and,
approaching the iconostasis, prostrated himself before the
figures of Christ and the Madonna on either side of the
great central door. He then asked for pardon from any
whom he might have offended, and the ritual proceeded.

On the morrow at the first capture of the city the Janis-
saries rushed to the great church, which they conceived was
filled with gold, silver, and precious stones. They found the
doors fastened, but broke them open, and at once began to
pillage. The sultan as soon as possible rode to S. Sophia.
Dismounting on the threshold, with the mystic symbolism of
an Oriental, he stooped down, and, collecting some earth, let
it fall on his turbaned head, as an act of humiliation. Then
he entered the edifice, but stopped in the doorway some
moments, and gazed in silence before him.

" He saw a Turk breaking the floor with an axe.
< Wherefore dost thou that ? ' inquired the conqueror. * For
the faith,' replied the soldier. Mahomet in an impulse of
anger struck him, saying, ' Ye have got enough by pillaging,
and enslaving the city, the buildings are mine.' "

A letter to Pope Nicholas V., written in 1453, describes
how " the profane heathen broke into the marvellous temple
of S. Sophia, unsurpassed by Solomon's ; they reverenced not
the sacred images, nay, rather broke them in pieces; they put
out the eyes of the priests, scattered the relics of the saints,
and seized on the gold and silver." 2

Ducas, who died eleven years after the Fall, bewails " the
Great Church, a new Sion which has now become an altar of

1 " Constantine, the last emperor of the Greeks."

2 Brit. Mus. MSS. Add. 6,417.

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS 127

the heathen, and is called the house of Mahomet." " The
dogs hewed down the holy ikons, tore off the ornaments, the
chains, the napkins, and the coverings of the holy table. Some
of the lamps they destroyed, and others they carried away.
They stole the sacred vessels from the skeuophylakium.
Everything made of silver and gold or other precious
materials was taken away, and the church was left naked and
desolate as it had never been before."

With the exception of the removal of much of the
treasure, the church did not immediately suffer great harm
from its new masters.

On the outside however the destruction of many of the
low attached chambers, and the addition of the minarets,
have very much changed its appearance. The first minaret,
which was indeed the first in Constantinople, was built at
the south-east corner by Mahomet the Conqueror. Selim II.,
who reigned from 1566 to 1574, built the second at the
north-east corner, and also restored the eastern apse which
had been again damaged by an earthquake : Amurath III.
erected the last two minarets at the western corners.1

" The description of the church of S. Sophia as it now
appears," which forms one of the chapters in Gyllius' (f 1555)
Topography of Constantinople, describes the church before the
addition of these three last minarets. It is interesting to
note that he remarks how little the building had been
altered, " and it is despoiled of nothing, except a little of the
metal work [mosaic ?] which shows itself in great abundance
through the whole church. The Sanctum Sanctorum, for-
merly holy and unpolluted, into which the priests only
were suffered to enter, is still standing, though there is
nothing remaining of the jewels and precious stones which
adorned it, these having been plundered by its sacrilegious
enemies." This is later supported by Grelot,2 who writes,
" It is decorated with everything that human industry and
skill could devise to render the work absolutely perfect.
. . . . I say nothing about the beautiful pictures, the faces
of which have been destroyed by the Turks." It is clear

1 Salzenberg, Altchristlicke Baudenkmaie.

2 Relation d'un Voyage de Constantinople, 1680.

128

S. SOPHIA

from Tournefort (1702) and Lady Mary Montagu (17 17)
that the mosaics were not wholly obliterated ; the latter writes,
" the figures were in no other way defaced but by the decays
of time : for it is absolutely false that the Turks defaced all
the images they found in the city." On the other hand, an
Italian MS. description of S. Sophia in the British Museum,
written in 161 1, says, "The Turks took away all the
beautiful work and covered everything with whitewash." 1 It
is evident from Dr. Covel's MS., quoted later, that much
was destroyed, defaced, and plastered over. Dr. Walsh tells
us that one of the smaller vaults fell in about 1820, scattering
its mosaic over the floor.

8 II. THE ANONYMOUS ACCOUNT.

We must now examine the description of the church by
the writer generally called the Anonymous of Combefis
(otherwise of Banduri or Lambecius). Codinus, who is
believed to have died soon after the capture of Constantinople
by the Turks, has so closely copied the Anonymous that
the accounts differ only in a few minor particulars. Combefis
says that the text of the Anonymous was collated by
Lambecius, " who produced it from the royal archives " with
the Chronography of the Logothetae, a tenth-century work
to which the same account is added as a separate treatise.
Labarte however considers that it was written in the eleventh
century : Choisy assigns it to the fourteenth, a view with
which we are inclined to agree ; but in any case we cannot
think it earlier than the twelfth century.

The description by Paulus is .so precisely accurate where
we can — as is so largely the case — check it by the existing
work, that there cannot be a doubt of his entire accuracy.
With the Anonymous this is not so ; and it must first of
all be borne in mind that he professes not to write of the
church as he saw it, but to celebrate its splendour when first
completed by Justinian ; in this his account differs entirely
from the Silentiary's, which there is no sign to show that he
1 MS. Harl, 3,408.

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

129

had ever read. The Anonymous has been very largely used
by scholars of the ability of Labarte and Bayet, but we
believe him to be entirely unreliable where he speaks of the
former state of the church. He simply gathers the legends
which had grown up, because facts were forgotten, and
enumerates the relics.

" The great church,1 known as S. Sophia [formerly a place
of heathen worship — Codinus], was first built of an oblong
(dromica) form, like those of S. Andronicus and S. Acacius.
On its completion it was adorned with many statues. This
building lasted seventy-four years. But in the reign of
Theodosius the Great, at the time of the second synod of
Constantinople, an Arian uproar arose, during which the
roof of the church was destroyed by fire. The most holy
patriarch Nectarius took up his office at S. Irene, a church
which was also built by Constantine. Then for two
[Codinus and Glycas say sixteen] years S. Sophia was
without a roof, until Theodosius, with Rufinus as his master
workman (magistros), covered it with cylindrical vaults.
After this it remained unhurt for thirty-nine years, making
altogether eighty-five years (sic) from the time of Con-
stantine, until the fifth year of Justinian's reign. This
was after the massacre in the Circus, in which thirty-five
thousand men were killed, when a faction elected Hypatius
emperor. However, in the fifth year of Justinian's reign,
the Most High God put it into his mind that he should
build a temple to surpass all that had ever been built from
the time of Adam.

" He wrote therefore to the strategi, toparchs, judges, and
satraps of the different provinces, that with all zeal they
should look for materials — columns, piers, panels, and lattice-
doors — everything in fact that would be useful for building.
Obeying the emperor's letter, they quickly sent all that could
be found from the shrines of the pagan idols, from baths,
and private houses, from every province of east, west, north,
and south, and from all the islands.

1 From Originum Rerumque Constantinopolitarium, variis auctoribus,
manipulus, F. Franciscus Combefis, Paris, 1664. The same anonymous
description is also given by Banduri, Imferium Orientale, ed. 17 1 1, vol. i,

S. SOPHIA

"Eight porphyry columns from Rome, which, according
to Plutarch, Justinian's secretary, a widow Marcia had
received as dowry, were transmitted to Constantinople.
They had formerly stood in a temple of the Sun built by
Valerian, who surrendered himself to the Persians. Eight
others of green, of marvellous beauty, were quarried and
sent from Ephesus by the praetor Constantine. The Marcia,
whom I have just mentioned, wrote to the emperor as
follows : ' I send thee, master, eight columns from Rome
of equal length and size, and the same weight, for' the
safety of my soul.'

" Of the other columns some were brought from Cyzicus,
some from the Troad, others from the Cyclades and Athens.
And when sufficient was collected for the work seven and
a half years had been spent. Then in the twelfth year of
Justinian's reign, the church built by Constantine was
destroyed with the foundations ; the old materials were put
aside, as a sufficient amount of fresh had been prepared ;
and Justinian began to buy up the neighbouring nouses.
The first of these was one belonging to a widow named
Anna, of which the price was estimated at eighty-five librae.
She was however unwilling to sell it to the emperor, and
refused to give it up under five hundred librae ; nor did the
emperor gain his purpose by sending the nobles of the court
to win her over. He finally went himself and begged her
to sell her house at any price. But when she saw him as a
suppliant, she fell at his feet, saying, « Lord and King, I can
accept no moneys for my house from thee ; I ask only that
I may obtain reward in the day of judgment, and that I
may be buried in a tomb near the future church, so that the
memory of my gift may live for ever.' The emperor
promised that when the church was finished she should be
buried there, for the land which she had given up, that the
memory of it might live for ever. The part which she gave
to the great church is that now occupied by the skeuophy-
lakium, and the chapel (naos) of S. Peter.

" Then the part which is occupied by the Holy Well, and
all about the thysiasterium, and the place of the ambo, and
the middle of the nave, was the house of a certain eunuch,

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

Antiochus, which was valued at thirty-eight librae. He was
offended because the emperor had not offered him a proper
price for it. Now the emperor was much distressed,
wondering what to do. But the Magister Strategius — a
guardian of the treasures, the adopted brother of the
emperor — promised that the emperor should gain his point
by a little guile, and that the other should sell his house.
Now this Antiochus was an eager frequenter of the Circus,
and especially favoured the blue faction. When the games
were about to be given, he was arrested and imprisoned in
the Praetorian prison. Then Antiochus called out from the
prison that if he could only witness the games he would do
whatever the emperor wished. He was then led by the
emperor's orders to his empty seat, and made to sell his
house before the games commenced, the Quaestor and the
whole Senate being witness. Now there used to be the
custom, that as soon as the emperor ascended to his seat the
charioteers should begin, but because they stopped then,
until the eunuch had accomplished his deed of sale, even to
the present day the chariots for the races are accustomed to
enter at a slow trot.

" The whole of the right-hand part of the Gynaeceum 1 up
to the column of S. Basil, and some portion of the nave, was
the house of an eunuch, Chariton, nicknamed Chenopolus,
who sold it as a favour for double its value, which was
twelve librae.

" The left part of the Gynaeceum 1 up to the column of
S. Gregory Thaumaturgus was the house of one Xenophon,
a cobbler. When they wanted to buy this house, besides
asking twice the value, which was fourteen librae, he also
demanded that, on the day of the games, the four chariot-
eers of the four factions should do obeisance to him as well
as to the emperor. The emperor decreed that it should be
done as he had asked, but made him a laughing-stock for
ever. For on the day of the games he was set midway in
the boundaries, so that the charioteers, by way of joke,
bowed to his back before beginning their courses, and so it

1 Evidently meant for lower aisles.

S. SOPHIA

is still done, and the man is styled * Chief of those below.'
He wears a white chlamys, woven with byssus.

" On the area of the naos, the four nartheces, the louter,
and the parts adjacent, was the house of Damianus, a noble
of Seleucia, the value of which he estimated at ninety librae,
and gladly gave to the emperor.

" Now Justinian, when he had measured out the site, and
found a stone to act as centre, from the thysiasterium as far
as the lower [western] apse, laid the foundations of the
great dome in circle-wise. Now from the apses right away
to the most outside narthex, the foundations were laid in
marshy and spongy ground. And when it had been begun,
he urged Eutychius the patriarch to offer up prayers to God
for its safe building, and then, taking with his own hands
lime and stone, giving thanks to God, he himself laid the
first stone in its place. Now before the church was built
he constructed the oratory of S. John the Precursor with a
gilt vault, and various ornamentations of precious stones.
This is generally call the Baptistery, and is situated near the
Horologium. He built at the same time the adjacent
portion of the Metatorium, that he might frequently rest
there with his court, and refresh himself with food. Then
also he built the whole of the portico, which leads from the
palace up to the Great Church, so that, as often as he liked,
he might cross over and devote his time to the building,
without being seen by any one. There were one hundred
master workmen, and each had a band of a hundred men
under him, making ten thousand men altogether. Fifty
bands took one side, and fifty the other ; and by the
emulation between them, the work quickly progressed.

" The form of the church was shown to the emperor in a
dream by an angel. And the first Deviser {mechanikos) of
the builders was skilful and full of sound wisdom, and well
versed in building churches. Barley was put into cooking
pots, and its decoction, instead of water, was mingled with
unslaked lime {asbestos) and tiles [crushed]. The mixture,
when warm, became viscous and sticky. At the same time
they cut slips off willow trees, which were cast into the
cooking pots with the barley ; they then made solid masses,

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

133

having a length of over fifty feet, and fifty feet broad, and
twenty feet deep, and placed them in the foundations.
They were put there, not hot, nor yet quite cold, that so
they might bind better, and above these masses they placed
large square stones.

"When the foundations had arisen from the earth two
cubits, they had spent four hundred and fifty-two miliarisia
of gold. Money was brought daily from the palace, and
placed in the Horologium, and each of those who carried
stone received a piece of silver, lest any slackness should
come upon them, or they should be tempted to complain.
Some of them, when carrying stone, gave way under the
weight, and fell head foremost and were hurt. Strategius,
whom I have mentioned, distributed the wages : he was
a Count of the royal treasury, and foster-brother of
Justinian.

" Now when the piers (pinsoi) had been finished, and the
great columns, both those from Rome and the green ones,
had been put in their position, the emperor left his noon-
day sleep and devoted himself to the work, and inspected,
with Troilus, a count of the household, all the polishers
{lithoxooi), stonecutters {laotomoi), carpenters (tektonikot),
and labourers {oikodomei), promising them each week a
nummus more, or as much as each might ask, above their
fixed wages. He used to come to see how the work was
proceeding, clad in a white linen garment, his head covered
with a kerchief, and holding a stick in his hand.

"And when they had raised the vaults {apsides) of the
upper floor, those on the right and on the left, and had
covered over these vaults, the emperor decreed that no
miliarisia should be carried from the palace on Sundays.
Now it was the third hour of the day, and Strategius
ordered the men to go to their dinners. As Ignatius, the
first mechanikos of the buflders whom I have mentioned
above, came down, he left his son on the right-hand side of
the upper floor, where he had been working, with strict
orders to watch the workmen's tools. He was a boy of
about fourteen. As he was sitting there, a eunuch, clad in
shining garments, and fair to look upon, like one sent from

*34

S. SOPHIA

the palace, appeared to him and said, 4 What is the reason
why the workmen do not quickly finish the work of God,
but have left it and gone to eat ? ' To him the boy
answered, * At the earliest hour, my lord, they will be
here.' But he cried, ' Go quickly and bring them.'
When the boy said that he was not to leave, lest the
tools should disappear, the eunuch said, 4 Go quickly and
summon them here, for I swear to thee, my son, by the
Holy Wisdom, whose temple is now being built, I will not
depart, since, by the command of the Word of God, I am to
minister and guard here until you return.' When he heard
this, the boy quickly set out, leaving the angel of God as
guard. And when he had got down, and gone to his father
and the rest, he related everything in order ; then the father
took his son and led him to the emperor's table. For the
emperor was then dining in the oratory of St. John the
Precursor, by the Horologium. When he heard the story,
he summoned all his eunuchs, and showed each in turn to
the boy. Then the boy calling out that he saw none like
the one that had appeared, the emperor knew that it was an
angel of the Lord who had addressed the boy, and this was
made more clear, as the boy said that he was clothed in a
white robe, his eyes glittering like fire ; then the emperor
praised God, saying, 4 God has accepted my temple.' And
as he had been wondering what name to call it, he named
it S. Sophia, according to interpretation ' Word of God.'
And the emperor took counsel with himself and said, 4 I
will not allow the boy to return, so that the angel may
guard it for ever, as he promised by his oath. For if the
boy return, the angel will depart.' Having consulted with
the principal senators and the bishops, the emperor com-
manded that the boy should not be sent back to the temple,
so that, by the grace of God, it should have a guardian till
the end of the world. And then the emperor loaded the
boy with gifts and honours, and, with the consent of his
father, sent him to the Cyclades. Now the conversation of
the angel with the boy happened on the right-hand side of
the pier of the upper arch, as one ascends towards the dome.
[Codinus says, " near the Syllagonum," for this it has

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

135

been suggested to read Syllagoeum, or uthe place of the
council "].

" When the workmen had continued the work up to the
second catechurnena, and the upper columns and arches were
built, and they were roofing the adjacent parts, the emperor
began to be anxious for want of funds. But as he was
standing in the upper part of an arch, as they were about to
begin the dome, at the hour of the Sabbath just before
dinner, an eunuch appeared to him, clad in white, and said,
4 Why are you distressed for money ? To-morrow bid
some of your nobles to come, and they shall have as much
gold as they wish.' On the following day the eunuch came
and showed himself to the emperor. The emperor sent
to follow him Strategius, and Basilides the quaestor, and
Theodorus the patrician, and Colocyns who was a praefect,
besides fifty servants, twenty mules, and twenty paniers.
With all these he marched out of the Golden Gate. And
when they had come to the Tribunalium, there seemed to
those who were sent to be built there palaces of stupend-
ous beauty. But when they had dismounted, the eunuch
bade them ascend a wonderful stair, and then, producing a
splendid gold key, he opened the door of a room, and, as
Strategius says, the whole floor was heaped with gold coins.
Taking a shovel, the eunuch filled each panier with four
hundred pounds of gold, amounting altogether to eight
thousand, and with these he sent them back to the emperor ;
and having closed up the room with the key, he said to
them, ' Take the gold to the emperor, and bid him spend
it on the work.' The eunuch left them there, and they
came and showed the emperor the gold they had received.
He was astonished, and asked them where they had been,
and where the eunuch dwelt. They told him all in order,
and how the wealth of gold was spread on the floor of the
room. The emperor hoped that the eunuch would return,
but as he was disappointed he sent a slave to the place.
When the slave had found the place where the palace had
been, and saw that there were no houses there, he returned,
and told all to the emperor. He was then astonished,
but understanding how it was, said, ' Truly this is a miracle
as all may see ; ' and he praised God.

136

S. SOPHIA

"Now when they were going to build the thysiasterium
and let in the light through glass windows, the Deviser
(mechanikos) suggested that the apsoid (muax) should have
one light. Then he changed his mind, and suggested that
it should have two, so that it should not be heavy, because
no wooden ties (ikriomatd) were placed there as in the
narthex, and on the sides of the church. But the rest of the
craftsmen were opposed, saying that one arch {kamard) would
light the holy place. Then the chief builder (protooikodomos)
was at a loss what to do, because the emperor said at one
time that there should be one arch (apsis), and at another
time two. Whilst the master (maistor) was thus pondering
and anxious, on the fourth day, at the fifth hour, appeared
an angel of the Lord, like the emperor, with royal robes and
red shoes, and said to the craftsman. ' I will that there be a
triple light, and that the conch be made with three windows,1
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.'
He then disappeared quickly. Then the master, struck with
wonder, rushed to the palace, and said to the emperor, « You
keep not to your word. Until to-day you wanted one
window, and then two, to light the bema ; but now, when
the work is all but finished, you come to me and say, three
windows shall light the bema, as a symbol of the Trinity.'
Now the emperor knew that day that he had not left the
palace, and he recognised that an angel of the Lord had
spoken. He said, 'As I have bidden thee, so do.'

"All the piers (pessoi) inside and outside were made
strong by iron bars (mochloi), so that they were bound
together, and made immovable ; the joints of the piers
were made with oil and asbestos ; and upon them was placed
a plating of many marbles (orthomarmarosis).

" The emperor sent Troilus the Cubicular, Thedosius the
Prefect, and Basilides the Quaestor, to Rhodes to have bricks
(besala) of Rhodian clay, made all equal in weight and
length, with the words engraved on them, < God is in the
midst of her, therefore shall she not be moved ; God shall
help her, and that right early.' 2 And they sent bricks of

1 If this interpretation can be accepted for oroat.

2 Bricks stamped with long inscriptions of this kind were frequently
used : one from Sirmium is mentioned in Byzantinische Zeitschrift for

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

-137

measured sizes to the emperor, twelve of them weigh one of
ours ; for the clay is light, spongy, fine, and white ; hence
arose the common idea that the dome is built of pumice
stone (kiseriori) ; but this is not so, though it is light and of
a white colour.

" Thus the four great arches were built ; and when they had
been raised to the level of the dome (troulos), on the com-
pletion of every twelfth course, prayers were uttered for the
church, and relics of the saints built in. Thus arose the
building ; it was then adorned with marble and covered
with mosaic. And into the piers, arcades, and larger
columns they placed relics of the saints. And when the
marble plating had been finished, they applied gold to the
margins of the slabs, and to the capitals of the columns.
And the carved work, and the ornaments of the upper
galleries, both of the parts with two stories, and with
three {diorophoi and triorophoi), were all covered with pure
gold. The thickness of the gold plating (petalos) was two
inches.1

"But all the vaults {orophoi) of 'the upper galleries, of the
parts with two stories on the sides, and the vaulting of the
nave, and of the parts adjacent, and of the four nartheces,
he gilded with glass mosaic. He gilded even the proaulia,
with their upper chambers, and columns, and marble slabs.

" The floor of the nave was adorned with various marbles,
both with the Roman of a rue-green colour and others of a
rosy red ; and these were all laid down and polished. The
walls outside and all round were covered with large and
valuable stones.

"The thysiasterium was of shining silver, the barrier
(stethea), and its large columns, with the doors, were all of
silver. All the silver was dipped in gold. Four tables were
set up in the thysiasterium supported on columns, and these
were gilt. The seven seats of the priests, on which they sat
on either side, with the throne of the patriarch, and the four

1894, p. 222 : "O Lord Christ, help this city, keep off the Avars and
guard Romania and him who writes this, Amen."

1 This may mean the thickness of the marble wall lining in some
places gilt — if it has a meaning.

138 S. SOPHIA

columns, were all gilded. And it was forbidden to go up
into the holy place, the Kuklios, also called the Holy of
Holies, which is above the steps.

" He set up also large columns of silver-gilt, and the lilies
with the ciborium. And the ciborium he made with silver
and nielloed {arguroencaustori). Above the ciborium was a
globe of solid gold, weighing 1 1 8 pounds, and golden lilies,
weighing six pounds, and above them a golden cross, with
most precious and rare stones, weighing eighty pounds. Such
was the design he made.

"And as he wished to make the holy table more beautiful
than the rest, and more precious with gold, he collected
numerous craftsmen, and consulted with them. Their
opinion and advice was to cast into the melting pot
{choneuterion) gold, silver, stones of every kind, and pearls,
copper, electron, lead, tin, iron, glass, and every other
metallic substance. And they ground them all together and
formed them into masses {olboi), and poured them into the
pot ; and when it had been melted, they took it from the fire
and poured it out into a mould {jufos). Thus the holy table
was made. And it was then set up by the emperor on solid
columns of gold, studded with precious stones. And the
' sea ' {thalassd) of the holy table was ornamented with gold
and precious stones. Who can see the holy table without
being astonished ? and who can gaze at it on account of the
many glinting surfaces ? so that at one time it all appears of
gold, from another place all of silver, and in another of
glittering sapphire ; and altogether there are eighty-two
different colours of metals and stones and pearls.

"He made also, above and below, carved ivory doors over-
laid with gold, to the number of 365. In the first entrance
into the louter he made the doors of electron ; doors also of
electron were in the narthex, two of them smaller than the
middle one, which was much larger, and of silver dipped in
gold (chrusembctphos)- The architraves also were overlaid
with gold. Three or the doors inside, instead of being made
of new wood, were made of wood from the Ark. He wished
to make the pavement entirely of silver [Codinus says gold],
but his advisers dissuaded him, saying that in the future

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

139

poor emperors might have it taken up. And those who
persuaded him were Maximian and Hierotheus, Athenian
philosophers and astronomers, saying that in the latter days
poorer rulers would come and take it all away. And
following these counsels the thought was given up. And
every day the emperor had 2,000 miliarisia put in a heap and
mingled with earth ; and when work was finished, in the
evening, the craftsmen dug out the mound and found the
miliarisia, and this the emperor did that they might be eager
for their work. And collecting the materials, as was said,
took seven and a half years. But the completion of the temple,
even with the crowd of workmen I have mentioned, all labour-
ing with the greatest eagerness, took nine years two months.

" The ambo with the solea he paved with sardonyx, and
inserted precious stones ; its columns were of solid gold, with
carbuncles and crystals and sapphires ; and he overlaid the
upper part of the solea richly with gold. The ambo had
also a golden dome studded with pearls, lychnites, and
emeralds.

" The gold cross of the ambo weighed 100 pounds. It had
also seizae,1 and lychnites, and was embroidered with pearls.
And the ambo above had a hat-shaped covering (petasion),
upon2 supports (stethea).

" The top of the Holy Well was brought from Samaria.
It was considered sacred, because Christ had sat on it, and
talked to the woman. And the bronze trumpets, which
stand by the Holy Well, were brought from Jericho ; they
were those at whose blasts by angels the walls of Jericho
fell down. The honoured Cross, to-day in the skeuophy-
lakium, which was the measure of our Lord's height, was
eagerly sought for in Jerusalem by the faithful and brought
hither. And for this reason they surrounded it with silver,
and all kinds of precious stones, and overlaid it with gold.
And to this day it works healing wonders, and drives away
diseases and demons. And in every column [of the church]
both above and below is placed one sacred relic.

1 crei^cu, a network, studded with jewels, suspended from processional
crosses, and from the sides of crowns, see Fig. 15.

2 Reading lirl for dvri.

140

S. SOPHIA

" He made also golden vessels for the twelve solemn feasts,
according to the sacred Gospels: basins (cherniboxeses)> ewers
(orkioloi), chalices (diskopoteria), and patens (diskoi) ; they
were all of solid gold, set with precious stones and pearls.
And the number of the sacred vessels was 1,000 ; altar-
cloths {endutai), with rows of jewels, 300 ; crowns, 100.
Every festal day had its own chalice covering (poterokalumma).
There were paten covers (diskokalummata) of gold, with
pearls and precious stones, to the number of 1,000 ; four-
and-twenty gospels, each worth two centenaria ; thirty-six
censers of solid gold with precious stones ; 300 lamps
{luchnitai) weighing forty pounds ; 6,000 candelabra (poly-
candela), and clustered lights 1 of solid gold, for the ambo,
the bema, the two gynaecea, and the narthex.

" The revenues of 365 farms in Egypt, India, and all the
East and West were devoted to the maintenance of the
church. For each holy day was set aside 1,000 measures of
oil, 300 measures of wine, and 1,000 sacramental loaves.
Similarly for the daily services, the clergy, including the
lowest, numbered 1,000, with 100 singers divided into
two for alternate weeks. For the clergy there were cells
round the building ; for the singers there were two monas-
teries.

"He made five gold crosses, each weighing 100 pounds,
which were adorned with all kinds of precious stones, so that
they were each valued at eight centenaria : also two candle-
sticks of gold incrusted with pearls and precious stones,
valued at five centenaria, as well as two other large carved
candelabra {manoualid) of gold ; these had golden feet, each
worth 100 pounds, to stand below the golden candelabra.
He made fifty others too, of silver, of the height of a man,
to stand by the altar. On the adornment of the ambo and
solea was spent 100,000 pounds, which was the tribute levied by
Constantine on Saroboris, King of the Persians, and on many
others. The whole church with the parts outside and around
— with the exception of the vessels and ornaments, which
were given by the emperor — cost 800,000 pounds.

" Now Justinian alone began and alone finished the church

1 fiorpviSov, " like bunches of grapes."

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS

141

with no other helping him, or even building a part of it.
Its beauty is wonderful to behold ; all kinds of pearls glitter
there like the sea, and one seems to see the ever-flowing
waters of great rivers. Now the four boundaries1 of the
church he called after the rivers that flowed from Paradise,
and he made a law that whosoever was excommunicated
should stand there for his sins. And for the phiale in the
centre he made twelve arcades, and lions belching out water
for the people to wash in. On the right side, however, of
the right-hand gynaeceum, he made a basin [thalassa] of one
cubit for the water to come up in, and one flight of steps
{klimax) for the priests to cross above the water. He placed
too in the front of the basin {dexamene) an open tank for the
rain {ombusia), and carved twelve lions, twelve pards, twelve
deer, and eagles, and hares, and calves, and crows, twelve of
each, and these spouted out the water for the use of the
priests alone. The place was called the place of the lions
{leontarion) and metatorion, because there was a golden
couch there, that the emperor might rest on his way to the
temple. But who can describe the comeliness and beauty
of the temple, overlaid with resplendent gold from the
crown to the pavement ?

" When the temple and the sacred vessels had been all com-
pleted, on the 24th of December he marched in solemn pomp
from the palace to the Gate of the Augusteum, opening into
the Horologium ; and he killed 1,000 oxen, 6,000 sheep,
500 deer, 1,000 pigs, 1,000 fowls, and gave them to the
poor and needy, as well as 30,000 measures of wheat. And
the distribution of these on that day took three hours, and
then the emperor entered with the cross, and the patriarch
Eutychius, and at the royal entrance he left the patriarch
and walked alone to the ambo ; then, stretching out his
hands to heaven, he cried, ' Glory be to God who has thought
me worthy to finish this work. Solomon, I have surpassed
thee.' And when the ceremony was over he distributed
largesse, and with the help of Strategius gave away three
hundred pounds of gold. But on the following day he
solemnly opened the temple, and killed even more oxen, and
1 <£iVcs, Graecised form of the Latin fries.

i42 S. SOPHIA

feasted every one for fifteen days until the feast of Epiphany,
praising God. In such a way as this was the great work
completed.

" Now the new dome which was built by Justinian, and
the gorgeous and wonderful ambo, with the solea, and the
patterned pavement of the nave, lasted seventeen years. But
after the death of Justinian, his nephew Justin succeeded, and
in the second year of his reign, and the fifth day, at the sixth
hour the dome fell, and destroyed the wonderful ambo with
the golden supports, and the solea, and all the sardonyx, and
choice pearls and sapphires. But the arches, and the columns,
and the rest of the building remained unhurt. Then the
emperor summoned the skilful mastermen, and inquired what
had caused the fall of the dome. But they answered and
said to the king, ' Your uncle took away too quickly the
supports {antinux) for the dome, which were of wood, to
cover it with mosaic ; and made it too high so that it should
be seen from everywhere, and thus the craftsmen, by destroy-
ing the scaffolding (skalosis) before the foundations had been
sufficiently set, caused the fall of the dome.' Thus spake
they to the king, and they added that if he wished to build
a dome like a hollow cymbal he should follow his uncle's
example, and send to Rhodes, and should order bricks made
in the same way and of the same weight as the previous
ones. The emperor gave the order, and bricks were brought
from Rhodes, similar to the previous ones. So once more
the dome was built, with fifteen fathoms taken from its
height, and formed like a drum so that it should not again
fall. The supports were left for a year, until they knew that
the dome had become well set. But the ambo and solea,
which they were not able to build of an equal magnificence
to the former ones, they are made of marble, with columns
covered with silver, and there was a silver inclosure {stethos),
round the solea. But the dome of the ambo he did not
build again, frightened by the expense. And for the pave-
ment, as he was not able to find slabs of such beauty and size
as heretofore, he sent Manasses, a Patrician and Praepositus,
to Proconnesus, and marble was worked there as is seen
now, of a green colour, like rivers flowing into a sea.

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS 143

" But when they wished to cut away the scaffolding of the
dome, and to take away the timbers, they filled up the church
with water to a height of five cubits, and threw down the
beams into the water, and thus the lower parts of the walls
were uninjured. And he covered it all with mosaic. Hence
there are some who say that Justin, Justinian's nephew, built
the church, but in this they lie. Let us rather give thanks
to our God who has willed that the great structure should
remain untouched, so that we can enter it, and give the praise
that is due to Christ ; for He is worthy of all glory, honour,
power, and worship, now and for ever, Amen."

§ III. LEGENDS

Many of the points in this celebration of the wonders
of S. Sophia seem to be traceable to the writer's absorbing
traditions of the work of Basil — who built like a goldsmith
at his new church — into his account. In the destructive
rapacity of the Crusaders and the interregnum that followed
while they occupied S. Sophia we find such a satisfactory
cause for this half-mythical retrospect undertaken in all good
faith that we cannot think it was written until after the
Frankish ascendency.

We need not suppose that the Anonymous invented even
the wildest of these stories ; such stories grow up as a matter
of course, and to-day various forms of some of them are told
within the walls of many other buildings. The accounts given
by the Russian pilgrims (see Chapter VI) agree so closely in
many respects with the Anonymous description that we might
think the writer had been their guide in the church. That
the stories were widely told in Constantinople at this time is
proved by the account of S. Sophia given by El Harawi, an
Arab traveller, who visited the city in the thirteenth century.
" Here is also Agia Sophia, the greatest church they have. I
was told by Yakub Ibn Abd Allah that he had entered it :
within are 360 doors. And they say one of the angels resides
there ; round about this place they have made fences of gold,
and the story they relate of him is very strange." 1

1 Quoted in Ibn Batuta, Orient. Trans. Socy.

i44

S. SOPHIA

This story of the angel recalls the Wingless Victory of
the Athenian acropolis, but it is probably more closely
related to the " Angels of the Churches " in the Revelation.
An interesting reference to this thought is made by Palladius
in his Life of Chrysostom. Before he left S. Sophia for ever
the patriarch entered it saying, " Come let us pray arid say
farewell to the Angel of the Church ; " but, adds his
biographer, "the Angel departed with him." We give
here an account of the church from a thirteenth-century
English MS., in the British Museum, Fit. A. xx. 14, which
refers to the more commonplace part of the story as told
by the Anonymous. " That famous city is endowed with
wonderful and inestimable wealth. In it may be seen the
famous church Agia Sophia, that is the Holy Wisdom ; an
angel of God appeared and taught the workmen as they
were building. Underneath the church in its cisterns there
is refreshing water, some of which is salt and some of it rain-
water. The church below is borne on one hundred and
seventy-three columns of marbles, and above on two hundred
and forty-six. Round the choir from the top to the bottom
it is covered with silver gilt. And this same choir has an
altar * starred ' (stellatum) all over with most wonderful
and precious stones. In the church are lamps of the purest
silver and gold, and their number cannot be counted. The
church is opened and closed by seven hundred and fifty-two
double doors, and there are windows innumerable. There
are seven hundred prebendary priests, of which three hundred
and fifty take each week in turn. Now the Patriarch of
Agia Sophia has in that city one hundred metropolitans and
archbishops, and each metropolitan has seven suffragans in
the same city."

The idea of competition with Solomon's Temple and the
Tabernacle would be sure to suggest itself, and, once received,
it would be justified by many assertions ; indeed a tendency
to imitate the biblical accounts may be detected in the
Anonymous author. For instance, we have Justinian's
intention to cover the floor with silver, the description of
the gold vessels for the altar, and the " sea " for the priests.
Justinian's oft-quoted speech on entering the completed

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS i+5

church may be assigned to this leading idea, which we find
expressed as early as the sixth century by Corippus, the poet-
bishop, who says, " Praise of the temple of Solomon is now
silenced, and the Wonders of the World have to yield the pre-
eminence. Two shrines founded by the wisdom of God have
rivalled Heaven, one the sacred Temple, the other the splendid
fane of S. Sophia, the Vestibule of the Divine Presence." 1
Glycas, who tells many of the stories given by the Anonym-
ous, continues the idea further. Justinian, he says, set up a
statue " representing Solomon as looking at the Great Church
and gnashing his teeth with envy." 2

In the Book of Proverbs we read, " Wisdom hath builded
her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." This was
also seized upon, and Michael Psellus speaks of S. Sophia as
" the very beautiful temple, the incomparable home which
the Divine Wisdom built in His own name and which He
raised on seven pillars." 3 Modern writers, Tournefort, Von
Hammer, &c, have delighted to point out that the church
has 107 columns ; indeed, with a little humouring, 108 may
be counted. The symmetrical number of the workmen
employed according to the Anonymous may be matched in
a legendary account of the building of S. Luke's, according
to which there were twenty-four protomaistores, each of
whom had twenty-four workmen under him.

The story of Justinian mixing money with the earth is
parallel to the account, given by Vasari, of Brunelleschi's
scheme for building the dome of S. Maria del Fiore in
Florence. It is impossible that the church should have been
flooded with water, as described by the Anonymous. There
appears to be no basis for the supposition that the great
dome was gilt ^ outside. In the texts of Codinus the dome
is said to be of ivy-wood (iciaarjplvos) : this is evidently some-
body's misreading for pumice-stone (fcio-tfpiov).

_ The stones were actually supposed to be specifics for
diseases by the Russian pilgrims and others. Clari the
Knight of Amiens4 (1200) speaks "of the Minster

1 Du Cange, notes on Bondelmontius.

2 Glycas, Annalium, Pars V,, ed. Bonn, p. 498. 3 Du Cange, op. cit.
4 Hopf, Chroniques Greco-Romanes, Berlin, 1873, p. 67.

146

S. SOPHIA

(Moustier) of S. Sophia, and the riches which were there.
. . . . There are vaults all round over the church, which
are carried on large columns, very rich ; for there is not a
column but is of jasper, or porphyry, or some precious
marble, and every column has a medicinal quality ; some
keep ofF Mai des rains, some Mai du flanc, and other
diseases : and there is nothing in this minster such as a
hinge (gons) or band (verveles) generally of iron, which is
not of silver."

Codinus concludes his account of the church with a story,
which may be classed with a large series, as " the gratitude
of employers to their architects ; " imprisoning and blinding
them, or cutting off their hands. It is in a sense one of the
truest of stories ! The master workman of the great church,
" Ignatius (sic), owing to the great favour which his work
won for him from the people, was shut up by the emperor in
his statue in the Augusteum." To parallel other tales this
must be the artist's own work which is the instrument of
his torture. Here he would have died of hunger had it not
been for his faithful wife, who threw to him a rope
besmeared with liquid pitch ; afterwards fire destroyed all
evidence of his flight.

We have also the customary tales of statues found in the
ground when the church was begun. Gyllius, quoting from
Suidas, says that Justinian discovered more than seventy
statues of the Greek deities, the figures of the twelve signs
of the zodiac, and eighty statues of Christian princes and
emperors. The travels that bear the name of Sir John
Mandeville relate that once when an emperor made a grave
in S. Sophia, " they found a body in the earth, and upon the
body lay a plate of gold, that said thus in Hebrew, Greek,
and Latin, « Jesus Christ shall be born of the Virgin Mary,
and I believe in Him.' It was laid there 2,000 years before
the birth of Christ, and is still preserved in the treasury of
the church. And they say that it was Hermogenes, the
wise man."

The legends were not forgotten after the taking of the
church. Sandys, the English traveller, who was in Con-
stantinople about 1 6 10, tells us that "one of the doors was

LATER HISTORY AND LEGENDS 147

famed to be the ark of Noe, and is therefore left bare in
some places to be kissed by the devoted people," and " the
total number of doors was said to be as many as the days
of the year."

When this, the church of the world, fell into the hands
of the Turks, many stories came to the West, or arose there
without coming. The poetry of the Fall required the
miraculous salvation of the priest celebrating mass, and the
prophecy of his return as told by Theo. Gautier. It also
required a massacre in the church, the riding in of the proud
conqueror, and the mark of his blood-stained hand, which
indeed is still pointed out some twenty feet above the pave-
ment ! Mijatovich, in his history of the last of the emperors,
regards the massacre as unhistorical.

An English romance almost contemporary with the Fall
tells us how the Turks took possession,

" For to let theyr hawkys fly
In the chirch of Saint Sofy."

L 2

CHAPTER VIII

FOSSATl's REPARATIONS. SALZENBERg's DESCRIPTION.

Sancta Sophia seems really to have been in a dangerous
condition when, in 1847, tne Sultan Abdul Mesjid began a
much-needed work of reparation which was carried on under
the guidance of the Italian architect Fossati, who appears to
have taken great pains, and notwithstanding some alterations
and "restorations" in the worst sense he deserves our
gratitude for probably saving the building. In the preface
to his lithograph views published in London in 1 8 5 2 he says,
" The portions of the building that looked most threatening
were reconstructed, and the lead roofs were repaired. The
dome was relieved of four heavy buttress arches, whose
function was taken by a double ceincture of iron around its
base. Thirteen columns of the gynaeceum, which were
inclining under the thrust of the great arches that support
the dome, were put straight again." The marble work of
the interior was cleaned, and the gold mosaic vaults were
cleared of the crust of limewash which concealed them.
All representations of figures were however covered again.
The sultan's tribune was built, Fossati says, "in the
Byzantine style." The walls outside, after being repaired,
were covered with a coating of plaster on which red stripes
were painted.

Since this time various remains of the Great Court, which
existed as late as 1873, have entirely disappeared, and the
broad bare space, in front of the exonarthex, has little now
to recall the atrium with its fountain and quadriporticus.

All study of the church in its condition at that time must

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

149

be based 011 the exhaustive plates and text of Salzenberg.1
M. Texier had in 1834 made some drawings at Constan-
tinople, which are now preserved in the library of the Royal
Institute of Architects ; and several coincidences seem to
point to Salzenberg's having had the use of Texier's ground
plan. In any case Texier was the first to make correct plans
including the upper floor, also the atrium, baptistery, and the
circular building at the north-east. As Salzenberg made full
use of the unique opportunity afforded by the scaffolding,
when the building was given over to the workmen, we have
thought it wise to give a condensed paraphrase of his
account where it is descriptive of the structure, even at
the risk of some repetition. Our remarks in other places
where they may overlap are the result of our own observa-
tion, from different points of view. The rest of this chapter
is an abridgment of Salzenberg's text and descriptive of his
plates, and we add nothing unless in notes or square brackets.

Design. — The exterior walls of the atrium, with several
entrances, were built of brick, but the inner sides had marble
columns between square brick piers, two columns to one pier.
These carried semicircular arches. The atrium walks, as
remains showed, were barrel-vaulted, and the vaults were
formerly covered with mosaic. The parts for which there was
evidence remaining are shown in darker hatching in Salzen-
berg's plate vi. The outer wall on the north side, with
several arched openings ; and traces of the western boundary
still existed.

The long vestibule in front of the narthex has groined
vaulting, and large windows in its west wall ; there are some
Turkish additions to this part. A door from each lateral
cloister, and two others from the open atrium, led into it.
On either side of the two doors from the court are strong
projecting piers, connected above by a wide arch, forming a
porch-like shelter over the doors. These four piers rise
above the roof of the vestibule.2

1 Altchristliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel, published by the
Prussian Government, Berlin 1854, with metrical version of the Silentiary's
poem by Dr. Kortum.

2 Salzenberg here suggests that these formerly supported equestrian
statues. Sec his plates ix.-xii. and compare our fig. 29.

i5o

S. SOPHIA

Double tiers of buttress arches spring from each of these
piers to the west wall of the church. A close examination of
the wall and piers led to the conviction that they are not
contemporary with the church, but were built later, though
partly of old material.1 The upper cornices for instance
differ. [Modifications here can be explained by removal of
Bell Tower, see p. 194-] The piers were probably erected
by Byzantine builders, to strengthen the western vault.

Five doors lead to the narthex, the windows of which are
above the roof of the outer vestibule. The walls are covered
with marble, and the vaulting with mosaic ; while the walls
and ceiling of the exonarthex, are quite plain. Two other
doors enter the narthex at its north and south ends, and nine
lead from it into the church ; the large central entrance
being the Royal Door.

The walls of the church form approximately a square,
the length of which in the interior, exclusive of the apse, is
241 feet, and the breadth 224.2

The dome measures 100 feet across from the edge
of the cornice, but above the cornice the vaulted space is
104 feet across ; it is 179 feet from the floor to the vertex,
The dome rises above the square area on four huge arches,
with a large semidome to the east and another to the west,
each of which embraces three smaller spans. The lateral
openings which thus pierce the east and western semidomes
are covered by conch s, but the middle opening in each case
has a cylindrical vault, that to the east being prolonged into
the eastern apse.

At the corners of the central square of the nave rise four
large piers, which are joined by arches to four buttress piers
in the northern and southern walls behind them. The
arched openings connect the three parts into which the aisles
are divided by the piers. On either side of each of the
central openings from the eastern and western hemicycles
rise other piers, which are pierced by narrow arched
passages, running from north to south. The piers, eight

1 Salz. xx., figs. 9 and 10.

2 All dimensions in this chapter are in Prussian feet, 100 of which =
103 English,

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

altogether, carry the whole vaulting of the nave, as well as
a part of that of the side aisles. Between the middle
division of each aisle and the nave are four large columns
with five arches on the ground floor, and on the first floor
six smaller columns with seven arches. Above again is a
wall with windows, filling up the great arches on the north
and south sides under the dome. Each exedra has, on the
ground floor, two large columns with three arches, and, on
the floor above, six small columns with seven arches.

The vault of each division of the aisles is supported on
four columns. Those next the east and west walls of the
church, eight in all, are square, the others are round. The
divisions of the galleries follow those of the aisles underneath.
The four main piers however were pierced by additional
arched openings [now filled up] between the galleries and
the nave. The part over the narthex opens to the nave by
three arches, on coupled columns. Above is the immense
semircircular window which fills up the central barrel vault at
the western end.

All the openings towards the nave in the upper aisles
have marble parapets. The vaulting of the lower aisles rests
on forty round columns and eight square ones, and in the
galleries on sixty round columns, not including the coupled
columns at the west ; this makes in all a hundred round
columns. Possibly the eight square pillars in the aisles were
employed, so that this number should not be exceeded.

In the walls are numerous large windows, and the dome
is pierced by forty just above the cornice ; thus light streams
into the church from every quarter. Much of the dome,
including the central circle of mosaic at the crown, can be
seen from the Royal Door.

The greater number of the buildings which formerly
surrounded the church are either destroyed, or so altered by
Turkish minarets and buttresses that it is difficult to conjec-
ture their original form.1

On the north and south of the narthex are long porches
of Byzantine workmanship, with cylindrical vaults. In the
northern one is a flight of fourteen steps leading down from

1 See Salz., plate vi.

152

S. SOPHIA

outside to the narthex. The southern porch is called by
Von Hammer the Vestibule of the Warriors. It is mentioned
by Nicetas as the place where the Archangel Michael was
represented in mosaic. It was through this porch that the
emperor passed to the church, and here some of the body-
guard would remain. The vaulting still bears the remains of
mosaics which are now covered up.

On the east sides of both the northern and southern
porches are accesses to the gynaeceum, formed of a series of
inclined planes. The entrance to the northern one is from
the porch, but the southern stair is reached from a narrow
passage between it and the baptistery. To the west of the
northern and southern porches, in the angles between them
and the outside walls of the atrium, are the two minarets
built by Murad III.

On the first-floor level, above the southern porch and
part of the adjacent staircase, is a series of chambers,1 of
which the purpose is not known. The walls of the -two
larger chambers are covered with marble, and their ceilings
with mosaic.

Only one stairway is now extant at the east. The
minaret built by Mahomed II., which helps to buttress the
south-east corner of the church, occupies the position of a
second. Salzenberg's Plate xiv. shows the stairway restored,
but in Plate xiii. the northern one is removed to explain the
arrangement of the part of the building to the south of it.
On entering at the door of this north-eastern stairway one
can either mount the ascending planes which wind round a
well for light, or go to the left through a small lobby into
the church. On the right steps ascend to the round building
adjacent. The light ' well ' once ascended the whole height
of the staircase, which seems to have been formerly still
higher, as the eastern wall of the church, which is here
prolonged northwards, rises about four feet above the present
roof of the stairway, and shows the remains of a window.
These^ stairways may have been built by Andronicus Palaeo-
logus in the fourteenth century, when he erected the buttress
masses which are called pyramids by Nicephorus Gregoras

1 Salz., plate vji.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

153

All these stairways however were additions to the building,
probably built when the dome abutments were strengthened.
The original staircases to the gynaeceum were in the four
piers by the northern and southern walls of the church, and
the steps from the gynaeceum to the base of the dome still
remain.1

In the eastern buttress pier on the south side is a portion
of one of the original staircases, leading downwards from
the gynaeceum, though beneath on the ground floor there is
now a vaulted passage.2 In the western buttress pier on the
south side, at the ground-floor level, is a vaulted passage
adorned with mosaic, and a door leading to an external
addition. In the similar position on the gynaeceum level,
the staircase, which formerly led higher, has been destroyed,
to make a way to the upper floor of this same late annex.

The south-east porch may have been used by the emperors
on non-festal days, as it was close to the southern aisle
where they sat. Three columns are now placed on each
side of this porch ; the two outer ones are of porphyry, and
have capitals with a design of a basket and doves.3 These
capitals are fine Byzantine work, although the arch above
may be Turkish. Here seven steps descend into the church.
The other porch on the north of the east end was destroyed
at the last restoration to make an entrance for the Sultan.
Remains of a series of chambers can still be traced on the
east side between the porches : their roofs must have been
below the lower windows of the eastern wall. The
chambers are now built up ; but their original plan may be
conjectured from the lead saddle-roofs, which have gutters
that conduct the rainwater through the outer wall. Two
doors from the porches, and two doors from the church —
all four now blocked up — show the previous communication
with this row of chambers, which probably contained the
priests' vestments, and the vessels for the altar.

Amongst the buildings that surrounded the church must
be mentioned the skeuophylakium,in which was kept the sacred
furniture. Here were placed biers for the state funerals :

1 Salz., plates vii., viii., and illustration of stairs in text.

2 Salz., plate vi. 3 Ibid., plate xx.

i54

S. SOPHIA

conspicuous amongst them was one quite covered with
gold, the gift of Studios and Stephanos. This probably was
the isolated round building at the north-east of the church,
reached by the steps previously mentioned. It now has two
floors of wood ; for security there were no windows, but
only twelve niches in the wall, in one of which is the door.
This building now serves as a storehouse for the army
kitchen (imareh) adjacent, and is much injured. Windows
have been made in the walls, and the door altered.1
The baptistery [south-west building] is square outside, but
octagonal with four niches within. It is vaulted by a
dome without ribs. On the east side is an apse, and on the
west a porch. The Anonymous says that the baptistery was
formerly called the Chapel of S. John, and that it was built
by Justinian. [Entrance to this is now obtained by a door,
which has been pierced in its north-eastern angle. The
western wall has a semicircular-headed opening, of the same
size as the niches, leading to a narthex or vestibule to which
there is now no access from the outside.]

In addition to the western entrance, a door on the north,
now blocked up, led through an open porch into a small
court. The large cylindrical arch of this porch had a screen
at its northern side, the columns and door-frame 2 of which
are still extant, but the marble lattice is destroyed. Through
an arch in the east wall of this porch the addition which was
made outside the south-west buttress pier could be reached,
where there was a passage into the church. Salzenberg's
plan 3 of this addition is taken at the level of a landing
reached by a staircase from the passage through the south-
west buttress pier. This landing seems at one time to have
been connected with a chamber above the north porch of the
baptistery, and from thence with the stairway at the south-west
angle of the church. Leading upwards from this landing is
the original staircase to the gynaeceum, and at this level
there is a small chapel vaulted with a cupola.4 The vault is

1 Only a short time was allowed to Salzenberg for its examination.
He was convinced it was not a baptistery, but gives no reasons.

2 Salz., plate xviii., figs. 9, 13.

3 Salz., plate vi. 4 Salz., plate vii.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

iS5

adorned with mosaic ; figures of angels stand in the four pen-
dentives. Originally the chapel was not lighted ; but at
the last " restoration " a hole was made in the roof, which
was filled with glass ; a passage from this chapel to the
gynaeceum is probably Turkish. The chapel is supposed
by the Greeks to be the one into which the officiating priest
disappeared at the capture by the Turks.

The Turks turned the baptistery into a storeroom
for the oil used in lighting the church, but on the sudden
death of the Sultan Mustapha I. it was converted into a
turbeh. Almost the whole of the church is raised above
vaulted cisterns. An opening in the south aisle 1 gives access
to the water, and there is another opening in the north-
west exedra. The depth of the water prevented a close
inspection.

- Of the two additions made in Byzantine times to the
centre of the north and south walls on the outside, and
intended to buttress the aisles, the southern one has been
further lengthened by the Turks. To preserve the use of
the door and window in the wall of the church, each addition
was pierced by a passage. Remains of stairways and side
passages have also been found here.2 Other remains of
buildings existed on the north and south sides of the church,
but they were too insufficient to base any conclusions on
them.

Materials. — The principal materials employed are brick,
and a kind of peperino stone. The latter is used in those
parts of the building which have to stand great pressure,
such as the four large piers in the nave, the piers to east and
west, and the extra projections from the buttress piers in the
side aisles and gynaeceum. In addition a horizontal course
two feet deep runs round the whole building four feet from
the floor.

The outside walls of the original building, like the
vaulting, were entirely of brick, but in the later additions
they are formed of alternate layers of brick and stone, and
some of the later buttress masses are almost entirely of stone.

The bricks are as a rule about fourteen inches long and

1 Salz., plate vi. 2 Salz., plates vi., x.

i56

S. SOPHIA

two inches thick ; some vaulting bricks brought from the
ruins by the porch on the east measured fourteen inches
square and two inches thick ; on one side of them were
scratched lines probably made by the three fingers of the
maker, and on the other was an oblong label inclosing an
inscription (i) ; another had a different inscription (2) ;
and a third, not from this vault, but of the same size,
was also inscribed (3).

+KOCT +HEI-0
ANT+ 6KKA</>

+KYPI6BO
H€l<j>HAI
MOINA00 Z

[(1) Reads Constantius or Constantine. (2) May be
rendered " the church which is being erected," by reading
a participle of iyeipco for the second and third letter. (3)
This is also given in the Revue Archeologique, 1876, with
some slight differences in second and third lines ; it is there
said to have been found between SS. Sophia and Irene. It
probably reads, " Lord, help Philemon : Indiction 7." The
two first vowels of Philemon have changed places, and the
contraction form after "INA" is also turned the wrong
way.]

At the base of the dome the bricks are 27 x 9 inches,
and two inches thick. Some appear to be twenty-seven
inches square ; but at the apex of the dome, by the hole
intended for the lamp-chain, the thickness is twenty-four
inches. There was no trace of the light bricks made in
Rhodes which the Anonymous mentions ; although in the
pendentives a light substance, whitish, with impressions of
plants in it, was used in irregular masses. The mortar
has a red colour, and was evidently mixed with crushed
brick ; the joints are from one to two inches thick.

The marble of Proconnesus, which somewhat resembles
the architectural marble of Carrara, is employed for the
cornices, capitals, and bases of the columns, and for the
windows.

In Salzenberg's plans the materials are expressed by
different depths of tint ; the darkest being marble, slightly
lighter is stone, and a still lighter brickwork ; the additional

FOSSATTS REPARATIONS

157

buildings are represented in the lightest tones, and the
Turkish buildings with strokes and dots.

Construction. — The outside walls average a height of
seventy feet : those on the north and south have a thickness
of three and a half feet, that on the east is four and a half
feet, and that on the west between the nave and narthex five
feet. Where the arches rest on the walls there are piers
which project about two feet: thus the west wall, for instance,
has in parts a thickness of seven feet. As a general rule,
the interior vaults of wide span continue through the walls,
and appear as arches on the outside face. The window and
door openings are semicircular. The marble finishings were
inserted after the completion of the walls.

The dome at first sight seems to rest upon four arches
each of 100 feet span ; it is, however, only on the east and
west that these arches are open. From north to south the
main piers are 106 feet apart, and their breadth in this
direction is fifteen feet eight inches ; but on either side of
the nave there are projections, narrowing the opening to 100
feet, and giving the open arches abutments of eighteen feet
eight inches.

Behind each of these main piers again, at a distance of
twenty-nine and a half feet from them, stands one of the
buttress or staircase piers, which, including the outside wall,
is seventeen feet four inches by twenty-four and a half feet
in area. Round arches, which appear below the vaults,
transmit the thrust of the great arches from the main piers
to these buttressing piers. Above these each of the immense
buttress masses which stand right across the aisles, and
rise to within eighteen feet of the springing of the dome,
bear upon two relieving arches of different radii, so as not
to load the vaulting beneath.1

1 It is probable, writes Salzenberg, that originally the buttress masses
reached only up to the roof of the gynaeceum, level with the springing
of the great arches ; as Cedrenus describes how Justinian, at the restora-
tion after the fall of the dome, made outside the building, in the
neighbourhood of the main piers, above the roof of the gynaeceum four
staircases, " cochleas " which reached up to the dome "to strengthen
the vaulting." Theophanes also speaks of new piers which Justinian
erected to strengthen the dome. The circumstances mentioned by

!58

S. SOPHIA

The cylindrical arches, which, at the ground-floor aisles
and the gynaeceum, connect the great piers with the outer
buttress piers, are each reinforced by two extra arches,
standing on stone additions to the main piers, from which
they project five feet.1 These arches, though thus
strengthened, are almost all out of shape ; those by the
two northern main piers have been pushed out nearly
fifteen inches.

A drawing given in Salzenberg's text shows the south
arch which supports the dome with the mosaics removed.
The piers from east to west are seventy-two feet apart, and
accordingly the span of the arch is seventy-two feet, its
soffite being fifteen feet eight inches. The arch is five feet
deep, formed of two unconnected rings, and on each side
the lower part is laid in horizontal courses so that the
portion with radiating joints is only three quarters of the
whole arch. The window wall which fills the arch opening
is four feet thick, and is bonded with the horizontal
courses, but a movement of the arches has caused a fissure,
which is shown in the diagram. These window walls on
the south and north sides have cracked in several places.
The upper part of the window wall on the north side is
only twenty-nine inches thick. The windows have been
reduced and strengthened by inserting stone jambs.

On the north and south side are also two large arches,
which project on the inside three feet from the window wall
and rest on the main piers, having the same height and span
as the arches on the east and west. They complete the

Procopius seem to indicate that the abutments of the great arches were
not sufficient. See our chap, x., § I, for another interpretation.

1 These Salzenberg thought later additions, "for the stone projections
are not bonded to the piers, and the Silentiary says columns stood in these
positions." We do not so interpret the lines of the poem, and, although
Choisy here follows Salzenberg, it is impossible to see, if there were
additions subsequent to the completion of the building, how it is that
the perfectly symmetrical disposition of the marble panelling shows no
disturbance, and the beautiful carved cornice which mitres round these
projections has had no additions made to it (our Fig. 47). The straight
joints, which Choisy in another place specially notes as a method of
Byzantine building, were here most wisely applied ; for on one side the
great pier was of stone, and on the other the buttress pier is of brick.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

159

square form under the cornice of the dome, and give the
idea that the dome is carried on four arches of 1 00 feet span :
whereas in reality, as has just been shown, the real support-
ing arches on the north and south side are concealed in the
window wall, and are not suggested in any way in the
interior decoration, being only visible on the outside.1

The four principal piers are very carefully built of shaped
stones, the joints, according to Procopius, being run with
lead, but the Silentiary mentions a cement as being used
here.

The height from the floor to the springing of the great
arches is seventy-three feet.

The arches of seventy-two feet span have abutments of
twenty-four and a half feet, which are increased above the
vaults of the gynaeceum to twenty-nine feet.

The great arches under the springing of the dome are
about four bricks, or five feet, thick. The depth at the top,
including the cornice of the dome, is about six feet and
three quarters. The centre of the arches is two and a half
feet above the springing, so that they are more than semi-
circular. In the internal angles formed by them are the
four pendentives. The cornice has a projection of about
two feet nine inches. The lead mentioned by the Silentiary
may be found in the interstices of its stones.

The dome springs from the cornice on forty piers, about
three feet five inches broad on the inside, and about eight
and a half feet deep in the direction of the radius. They
are connected by arches which form windows four feet nine
inches wide. On the outside the piers project beyond the
arches, and may perhaps at one time have been connected
with other arches, forming a drum for the dome : within
they form part of the ribs of the dome.

In the interior the ribs project at the springing six inches
from the surface of the dome, which is there twenty-nine
inches thick, but their projection gradually diminishes, till

1 Salzenberg conjectures from Agathias that these arches were a later
addition made when the dome was restored by Justinian. But without
them, as he remarks, there would not have been originally a square base
for the circle of the dome. See explanation of original form, p. 210.

S. SOPHIA

they are lost in the great circle of thirty-seven and a half
feet diameter in the centre. In the interior from rib across
to rib is 104 feet, so that all round on the cornice is the
passage two feet nine inches wide, which, according to Paulus,
was used by the lamplighter. The dome rises forty-six feet
nine inches above this gangway, so that it is considerably less
than a semicircle in section. The original dome, according
to Agathias, must have been even flatter. Theophanes
states the increase in height to have been twenty feet,
and Zonoras twenty-five.1

The dome has now many swellings and depressions which
are not visible from the ground. At the same time we see
how immovable domed vaulting is, if only its supports
remain uninjured.

At the east and west ends of the nave the two cylindrical
vaults are each forty-seven feet across. They rest on the
four lesser piers, and have an abutment of fifteen and a half
feet. The four exedras are each forty-one feet across. All
the conchs and semidomes have drums outside, which are
pierced by the windows. The conchs which cover the exedras
have strong arches, where they intersect the semidomes.
The weight of the exedra conchs is chiefly supported by
the columns ; the upper columns of the south-east exedra,
at the time of the last restoration, were much inclined, and
had to be brought back to the vertical, by propping the
arches, cutting away the old bases, and inserting new pieces
— the columns being surrounded and supported by wooden
cradling. The thickness of the western barrel vault is four
feet ; the eastern apse is about three feet thick. The
western semidome received an additional thickness at the
restoration.

Vaulting of the Aisles. — The three principal divisions of
each aisle are covered by domical vaults. The vault arches
rest partly on columns ; and the spaces between these
columns and the outside wall are also vaulted. The middle
division of the north and south aisles has two domical
vaults, separated by a barrel vault that opens towards the

1 Salzenberg assumes from Paulus that " the dome was surmounted by
a cross " : the cross was of mosaic inside.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

161

nave arches, and to the window in the outside wall. The
arches have iron ties four inches thick, which stretch from
the outer wall to the columns of the nave, and grip them
tightly. The four columns in the aisles which carry the
vault are much lower than those between the aisles and
nave, and for this reason the narrow vaulted space, which
joins the aisle vault to the nave arcade, is formed by a
stilted quadrant.

This arrangement only applies to the lower aisles : above
is a stilted cylindrical vault, running lengthways between
the main gynaeceum vaults, and the arcade towards the
nave.1 Here, besides the iron ties, there are wooden beams.

The large arches in the aisles are twenty-nine and a half
feet from column to column. The domical vaulting of the
aisles is very flat — a combination of cross groining and a
dome. For, though it starts with angles at the four corners,
it gradually merges into a dome at the apex. The vaulting
bricks are arranged in horizontal circles.^ A diagonal band
of mosaic starts from each corner, and merges into a central
circle.3 In the gynaeceum the vaulting is higher and consists
of spherical domes, the radii being half the diagonals
of the spaces covered. The mosaic decoration here again
follows the form.4

Narthex. — The narthex is covered with vaults, similar to
those of the lower aisles of the nave. Each vaulted space
is separated from the next by a segmental arch, six and
a half feet wide with a span of twenty-six and a half feet,
which abuts on the west wall of the nave, and the piers
of the outer wall. The vault spaces vary from sixteen and
a half feet in the middle to thirteen and a half feet towards
the ends. The piers of the outer wall are connected together
by arches above the window openings, and the spaces below

1 See Salz., plate x. The right-hand side is a section through one of
the domical vaults, and the left through the barrel-vault which connects
two domical vaults. The plans, plates vi. and vii., and the section plate xi.,
show how close some of the columns stand to the piers, to which they
are joined by small barrel-vaults, intersecting the domical vaulting.

2 A mistake for vertical circles ; the large number of cisterns where
the vaults are uncovered make this certain. See our p. 221.

3 Salz., plate xxiv. * Salz., plate xxiii.

\6z

S. SOPHIA

the windows are filled up with thin * screen ' walls. The
upper floor of the narthex is covered with a semicircular
vault, intersected by the window arches between the piers
of the outer wall. These piers are the continuation of those
beneath, and have a width of six feet, and a depth of seven.
They had to bear the thrust of the barrel vault of twenty-
six and a half feet span : the buttresses previously mentioned,
springing from the piers of the propylaeum, were sub-
sequently added to strengthen them.

In the exonarthex there are cross groins with arches
between. The arches have a span of fourteen and a half
feet and an abutment of seven feet. This seems to be of a
later construction than the rest of the vaulting, and not
improbably, as well as the piers, belongs to a reconstruction
of this porch, undertaken to strengthen the west wall of the
narthex.

All the arches of the nave which stand on columns have
iron ties ; and to the three large openings of the gynaeceum
at the west end of the nave there are wooden binders as
well. In the lower rows of windows beneath the dome on
both the north and south sides of the nave iron ties can be
seen, which seem to stretch across the whole width of the
large arches which support the dome.

Roofs. — All the exterior vaults are covered with lead
about a quarter of an inch thick, which rests on a layer of
wooden battens placed immediately upon the brick vaults.
There are several passages and staircases for access to the
roofs. Access to the exterior of the side aisles and narthex
is gained by the staircases in the buttress piers : the stairs are
supported on brick arches. In the north-east pier the stair
space is only four feet eight inches by six feet seven inches,
and in this are placed the flights of stairs two feet eight inches
wide, with a space of fifteen inches between.1 At the top
of each flight spaces are hollowed out in the wall, which
serve as landings from one flight to another.

These stairs ascend above the roofs of the side aisles to
the upper part of the buttress piers, from which open
passages, with breast-walls on either side, lead above the

1 See figure in Salzenberg's text.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

163

buttress piers to the angles at the base of the dome.
There were two flights of steps leading to the platform of
the dome : one of these on the south-east, which Salzenberg
shows dotted in Plate viii., is still quite preserved, though
injured at the upper end ; remains too can still be traced
of the north-west stair. A door now built up, on the north
side of the south-east stair, and remains of vaulting in the
north-west stair, seem to show that other passages must
have existed.

The roof of the cylindrical vaulting at the west end of
the nave is reached by means of stairs in the small round
towers, which flank it on the outside.1 These turrets can
also be reached from the roof of the narthex. Another
passage runs along under the narthex roof at the west (Salz.,
Plate ix.), which has an opening close to the upper surface of
the vaulting, and from thence any part above the nave can be
reached. Probably this was formerly used for the lighting
of the church. To reach the cornice at the foot of the
dome there was an opening in the wall under one of the
dome windows.

Decorative Work. — All the constructional forms were
shown boldly on the outside without any adornment ; the
west front of the narthex next to the atrium was alone
covered with slabs of Proconnesian marble, some of which are
still preserved, but the upper wall surfaces were perfectly
plain.

In the interior the whole of the walls are plated with
rare variegated marbles, and the vaults are covered with
glass mosaic. Two chief masses of colour in the nave are
separated horizontally by a cornice, and another cornice
forms the springing for the vaulting. There are also
cornices at the foot of the dome, and around the walls of
the aisles. All these are of carved white marble in simple
profiles. The lower range of arch spandrils between the
piers of the nave is formed of slabs of white marble
completely covered with carving : the upper spandrils above
the gynaeceum arches have sectile work of coloured
marbles. The carving is sharply cut, but conforms very

1 Salz., plate xi.

M 2

164.

S. SOPHIA

closely to the general surfaces ; according to the old
descriptions it was gilt, and remains of colour still extant
show some of the leaf-ornament coloured with a dark
red.1

Columns. — Amongst the columns are beautiful examples
of the dark green Thessalian marble, now called verde antico.
Of this are formed all the round columns in the nave and
ground-floor aisles, with the exception of the eight in
the four exedras, which are of dark Theban porphyry.
It could not have been always possible to find a sufficient
number of columns of the same height and diameter, and
the transport of them must have been frequently accom-
panied by injuries of one kind or another. There are
differences between similarly situated columns, and in
many cases mended fractures appear on the surface of
the marble. In no cases are antique capitals placed on these
columns. All the capitals and bases are of Proconnesian
marble, and were wrought by Byzantine chisels.

The greater part of the capitals are similar in design,
though their size varies in proportion to the height of the
columns which support them. Salzenberg, in Figs. 1 and 3
of his Plate xv., shows one of the capitals of the great
order. The leaf-work on them — partly acanthus and partly
palm — is very deeply undercut, and lies almost clear of the
ground underneath. In the middle of front and back are
monograms.

Under the capitals are bronze rings eleven and half inches
high ; each is composed of three members, with a wrought
lock on the side towards the nave, on which is repeated the
monogram of each capital. At the foot of the columns
above the bases are similar rings nine inches high. These
rings occur on all the old columns, with the exception of the
two dual columns of the west gallery. They seem to be let into
the shaft, and, according to the description of the Silentiary,
they were gilded. In addition to these rings, there are on
other columns — as, for instance, the porphyry columns of the
exedras — simple rings, rectangular in section, in positions
where cracks and injuries appear ; there being three or four
1 Preparation for the gold.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

165

such rings on a column at different heights. It is possible
that some of these are of Turkish origin.

The bases as a rule have much the same form as the
Attic base ; the porphyry columns of the exedras have
pedestals 1 below them, because the shafts were not long
enough.

Each of the great verde antique shafts has a height of
twenty-five and a half feet, and the bronze base-ring has an
inside diameter of three feet seven inches. The capital is
three feet ten inches high, and the upper part five feet eight
inches wide, the whole height, including base and capital,
being thirty-three and a half feet.

The porphyry columns of the western exedras have a
total height of thirty-one feet ; the shafts are twenty-two
feet and three-quarters long, and the diameter at the bottom
is three feet one inch. The capital is four feet high, and the
abacus above measures towards the nave four feet nine inches,
and towards the aisles four feet eleven inches. In the
direction of the thickness of the arch the side of the
abacus measures five feet, the variation being due to the
circular plan of exedras.

The columns of the upper storey, which separate the
gynaeceum and the nave, also of verde antique, stand nearer
to one another and are smaller than those below. The total
height of those in the middle division is twenty-two feet
five inches ; those in the exedras are twenty-one feet, with a
diameter at the bottom of two and a quarter feet. The
capitals are three and a half feet high, and the bases, including
a six-inch bronze ring, two feet one inch.2

The parapet is three feet ten inches high, and of white
marble.3 It stands between the columns, and like them is
set on a stylobate one foot six inches high, above the lower
cornice. It should be noticed how the wide vaulting of
the aisles is contrived, so as not to interfere with the view
through the arched openings of the lower range of columns.

The columns in the interior of the ground-floor aisles

1 Salzenberg's plate xv., fig. 6. The inclination of the sides of that
shown is much exaggerated, if in any case it exists.

2 Salz., plate xvi., fig. I, 5. 3 Plate xvi., figs. 5, 6.

i66

S. SOPHIA

are about twenty-four feet seven inches high. These capitals
are similar to those already described. Those in the interior
of the gynaeceum, with shafts of Proconnesian marble, have
capitals of quite another form.1 They are very similar to
others in the church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus ; the twin
columns in the gynaeceum at the west end of the nave have
similar capitals ; the columns being verde antique. In these
capitals, however, the volutes are not arranged diagonally,
but show " cushions " at the side.

The capitals in the atrium resembled those of the twin
columns ; though the cushion was shorter and the top had
less projection, and it was crowned with a flat egg and
tongue moulding. The capitals and shafts were of white
marble. The beautiful square capitals of the eight square
white marble pillars in the aisles are shown in Salzenberg's
Plate xvi.

The arches of the great order have an elaborate leaf-
ornament round them, continuing above the capitals in a
horizontal line, resembling in fact an architrave. [In the
centre above each capital is a cross, and at the crown of the
arch is a four or six-armed cross.] The spandrils are filled
with acanthus-ornament, and in the centre of each is a disc
of coloured marble — surrounded by a carved circle in the
white marble. The ornament of the intrados of the arches
consists of five divisions in the width : these are covered with
a continuous pattern, seven slabs casing the intrados of
the arch. [The five bands are only carved alternately, the
centre and lateral ones being plain.] See our Fig. 50.

The respond on the main pier at each end of this arcade
is a kind of pilaster strip,2 surmounted by a capital in low
relief, and surrounded by a notched border.

The two cornices running round the nave, which serve as
galleries for the lamplighters, have an extremely simple profile.
The slanting under-surface, divided horizontally by a row of
beads, has acanthus-leaves in the upper part forming a cym-
atium, and in the lower modillions carved with ivy and

1 Salz., plate xvii., figs. 12 and 13. Fig. 14 gives the base, fig. 2 a com-
plete column.

2 Salz., plate xv., figs. 7, 8.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

167

acanthus, and between them, panels with different leaf-
ornaments. Beneath the aisle cornice is a frieze of marble
mosaic. The base mouldings or skirtings are worked out of
thin slabs.1

Salzenberg's Plate xx. contains a collection of archi-
tectural details, which seem to belong to different periods ;
Figs 1, 2, 3 represent one of the white marble capitals
which adorn the two porphyry columns of the south-east
porch. The arch above them is Turkish, and hence it may
be questioned if this was their original position : they seem
more intended for an ornamental structure than to support a
load, and they may perhaps have belonged to a ciborium
above the holy table. The two marble capitals (Figs. 4 and
5), only three inches thick, were found in the chamber in the
north-east buttress mass, above the gynaeceum roof, together
with broken pieces from a window. They may originally
have belonged to the upper part of the building, such as the
window wall under the north arch of the dome.2 The work-
manship is very different from that in the rest of the church,
and is more closely allied with ancient treatment. Perhaps
they are fragments from the earlier church which found a
fresh application in Justinian's building. The parapet pillars
between the twin columns of the western gynaeceum, with
tall pedestals, are each formed in one piece of verde antique.
Their capitals resemble those of the windows,3 with the
exception that the former are rounded underneath instead of
being square.

1 See Salz., plate xv., figs. 1, 4, 5 for lower cornice ; plate xvi., 2 and 3
for upper, figs. 3, 4 for dome cornice, fig. 9 aisle cornice. This last, says
Salzenberg, "is mended in many places with gypsum, and comes from an
earlier building." We do not know what earlier building could have
furnished a quarter of the quantity used in S. Sophia. Is it possible
that the whole of it is of gypsum ? (See our chapter xii.) The marble
skirtings are shown on plates xv. and xvi.

2 In a note Salzenberg draws attention to Paulus speaking of eight
windows in this wall, and conjectures that instead of the five upper
windows there was one large opening here.

3 Salz., plate xx., fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a capital that was found on one
of the four parapet posts, and removed at the " restoration "; fig. 7 was not
found in S. Sophia ; fig. 8 was an isolated capital in north aisle ; figs.
9-1 1 show upper mouldings to the piers of the propylaeum.

1 68

S. SOPHIA

The wood ties which span different arches are adorned on
the sides and beneath with carvings.1

Windows and Doors. — The lighting of the church is most
brilliant ; wherever space or construction permitted, windows
of considerable size were opened, so that light floods the
whole church. At the foot of the dome the light streams in
through forty windows, and each of the seven apses has five
openings. The eastern sun sends its first rays through the
six windows in the apse, and the setting sun shines through
the great west lunette. There are twenty-four windows in the
two great tympana, besides large windows in the aisles.

The windows in the conchs of the exedras are now closed
up, the grouped windows in the great tympana on the north
and south are diminished to insignificant openings, and the
large arched openings at the sides or the end divisions of the
aisles seem even in Byzantine times to have been reduced in
size ; at least the remains of piers, shown in Salzenberg's
Plate xiii., indicate that there was originally an opening with
pilasters, similar to those at the eastern end of the side aisles.2

It is said that Justinian gave instructions that combustible
materials should be avoided. If so, these instructions were
followed even to the windows and doors, for the lattice-work
of the former is of marble, and the panels of the latter are of
bronze, or rather they are covered with bronze.

Salzenberg3 gives the inside elevation and section of a
window on the south side of the gynaeceum, with details on
a larger scale. The opening in the wall is brick-arched, and
the framework consists of upright posts, with a thin horizontal
architrave dividing the window into two parts. Between
these posts were fitted the breast-wall and lattice-work. The
posts are narrow towards the outside, and the ends of the
architrave rest on thin pieces against the jambs.

The ' breast-wall ' at the bottom of the opening and the
' lattice-work ' are formed of marble, three inches thick.

1 Salz., plate xx., fig. 12 shows the underside of the beam in the
middle of the west gynaeceum ; fig. 15 is the side, and fig. 16 the under-
side of one in the south gynaeceum ; figs. 13 and 14, one in the north
gynaeceum.

2 Salz., plate xiv. 3 pjate xvji>? £gs>

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

169

The openings pierced in the slabs are about seven or eight
inches high, filled with panes of glass. Between the panes the
marble has a width of three and a half inches, slightly splayed
on the inside. A second row of slabs fills the lower part of
the windows pierced with openings, surrounded by wider
margins.1

The great semicircular west window is divided vertically
by two columns with plain capitals and bases ; the horizontal
division from column to column is similar to the crowning
member of the breast-wall of the other windows. The lower
part is filled with marble slabs, which conceal the roof of the
western gynaeceum. Each panel is ornamented with a cross
upon a circle, and within the latter is a monogram.

The small windows are simply filled with marble lattice
for the glass. Inside the apse windows of the east end are
other windows having coloured glazing ; but these are
evidently Turkish.

Marble door jambs were placed in the openings left in the
walls, just as the posts were inserted in the windows ; the
middle, or Royal Door, from the narthex to the nave, is of
bronze. All the frames were moulded, and above are fixed
door-hooks, like bent forefingers ; these held rings and
leather fastenings, from which were suspended the customary
door-hangings.

The lintel of the bronze door-frame bears a relief. This
represents an arch, supported by columns above a throne
with the book of the Gospel and the descent of the Holy
Ghost in the form of a dove. On it are the words of S. John,
' The Lord said, I am the door of the sheep ; through me if
any man enter, he shall enter and shall go out, and shall find
pasture.' The simple bronze door-plating now remaining
does not seem to be original. [See p. 265.]

Salzenberg,2 as an example of the marble frames, gives the
east door of north aisle. Like all Byzantine door-frames, the
head does not cut across the jamb, but mitres. This perhaps

1 See Salz., plate xvii. Fig. 3 is the upper capital, fig . 4 the lower,
figs. 5 and 6 the base, and fig. 7 the under side of the architrave. Figs.
8, 9, 10 are details of large west window.^

2 Salz., plate xviii.

S. SOPHIA

made it easier for fixing within the openings left in the walls.
Salzenberg 1 also represents the arched opening, which stands
between the Baptistery and the small court on the south
side of the church.2 There are two tiers of columns, with
a thin architrave band between them. The door stands
between the lower columns ; to avoid concealing them the
frame is made as small as possible, as the plan shows. A
similar arrangement is found in the earlier church of S. John
Studius.3

The bronze door-plating on the exterior of the south porch
entrance is extremely interesting.4 A wooden foundation
four or five inches thick is covered with ornamental bronze
casings. The borders to the panels are beautifully modelled,
and must be ancient. The other outer margins, with knobs and
rosettes, and the four panels, which are decorated with mono-
grams, belong to the Byzantine school. In the more ancient
parts the metal is one-eighth to one-fourth inch in thickness,
in the latter it is three-eighths to half an inch. Antique doors
must have been enlarged and fitted with new panel plates.

Marble Plating. — Broad horizontal bands run round the
nave at different heights, and the spaces between them are
filled with single panels and vertical sheathing. All the bands
and panels have notched fillets, i^" wide, of white marble
as borders. The more important panels have sculptured
white marble frames, eleven inches wide with a " pater
noster " and notched-fillet borders on either side.

The spandrils of the upper arches and the bands beneath
the topmost cornices are incrusted with designs of leaves,
flowers, fruits, and birds formed of different kinds of marble.

The marble casing to the walls of the nave is arranged as
follows.5 Above the skirting is a [3;.io"] band of verde
antique, then the notched fillet, then a [i'.5|-"] yellow band
[oriental alabaster] ; above this is a vertical sheeting \jr. 10"]
formed of Pavonazzetto marble, alternating with a yellowish
brown marble ; then another horizontal band of yellow.

Above this stretches a series of panels round the whole

1 Plate xviii., figs. 10-14. 2 See plates vi. and xi.

3 Salz., plate iii., fig. 7. 4 Salz., plate xix.

5 See Salz., plate ix.

FOSSATI'S REPARATIONS

nave — a panel of rosso, with two vertical slabs of a dark
marble like porto venere on either side, each surrounded by
the sculptured frames. The space from the top of this
series to the lowest cornice is adorned with two bands of
yellow [alabaster], and between them is sheathing similar to
that below.

The upper division of the nave starts above the cornice
with horizontal bands of white and verde antique ; above
which are vertical panels of porphyry, set in a frame of
yellow [alabaster], with slabs of the russet marble on either
side. [Then follows another horizontal band of oriental
alabaster, and above it a range of vertical slabs of verde
antique alternating with Synnadan.]

Beyond this again, and immediately below the upper
cornice, is the band made up of different marbles1 [opus
sec tile]. A dark brown marble forms the groundwork, the
tendril ornament is white, and the rest is of red, like rosso
antico, and of green serpentine. Similar work incrusts the
spandrils of the gynaeceum arcade. The centre of each is a
disc of green marble, and the whole spandril is edged by a three-
inch strip of pale red. Above the centre of each arch in
this spandril decoration are discs containing crosses, from the
arms of which hang seals.2 The soffites of the arches are
covered with glass mosaic. The aisles are lined with marbles
similarly arranged to those in the nave.

The walls of the bema are covered with panels of inlaid
marble.3 These panels in pairs are separated by a plain slab
of porphyry. By the side of the arched opening into the
gynaeceum is a panel of porphyry with a pattern in slight
relief, and surrounded with yellow alabaster. The arched
opening into the gynaeceum is closed with a parapet of white
marble, with a carved framework above, formerly fitted, as
holes show, with a metal lattice.

The lower division of the bema walls is decorated by two
rows of panels, divided by a horizontal band of verde antique.
Salzenberg's Plate xxii., Fig. 6, shows the frieze directly

1 Salz., plate xvi., fig. 4. 2 Salz., plate xvi.

3 Salz., plates xxi., xxii. Plate xxii., fig. 1 shows the upper frieze and
the panels beneath.

172

S. SOPHIA

below the bema cornice, and the top of a porphyry pilaster-
strip with a capital of white marble ; a similar pilaster fills
the narrow space on each side of the apse.

The walls of the apse are shown on Salzenberg's Plate xxi.
The frieze beneath the cornice is given in Plate xxii., Fig. 8.
The porphyry ground has an inlaid pattern which slightly
projects : the serpentine in the frieze, Fig. 6, also projects
from its rosso ground. The lower portion of the apse,
formerly occupied by the seats of the priests, is now plated
with a white gray marble. This is probably Turkish. The
height of this probably gives the height of the iconostasis, as
there is no sign of any change in the decoration above.

The marble is fixed to the wall with a dark brown resin.
In the opus sectile, pieces of coloured marble about a quarter
of an inch thick were cut to the forms of the design,
and then laid with their polished faces downward at the
bottom of a mould ; on this was poured a three-quarter
inch backing of resin mixed with bits of stone and brick.
When set, the slabs so formed were attached to the
wall with cement. The large marble slabs are one to two
inches thick, and, besides the cement, are fastened to the
walls by iron [ ? bronze] clamps. The pavements of ground
floor and gynaeceum are of white marble with dark gray
stripes. [Proconnesian.] In the south-east angle of the
square area under the dome is a square of marble mosaic,
of which details are given in Salzenberg's Plate xxii.,
Figs. 9-15. It is formed of a circular centrepiece of
a gray brown granite, ten feet two inches in diameter,
round which are arranged coloured marble discs of various
sizes, set in a mosaic of marbles, with a little glass mosaic in
the angles.

In the centre of the west end of the gynaeceum is a square
[of about twenty-four feet] in the pavement laid with slabs
of "gray cipollino " [Proconnesian], having a border of verde
antique, with a patterned edging 1 of giallo and rosso on one
side, and giallo and serpentine on the other. [Between this
and the parapet is a circular slab of verde antique four
feet seven inches in diameter.]

1 Salz., plate xxi., fig. 18, and our fig. 9.

CHAPTER IX

THE ANCIENT PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF THE

CHURCH

Palace. — Before entering on particulars of the exterior of
the church, it will be well to have a clearer view of the
edifices in its immediate neighbourhood as they appeared in
the time of Justinian.

The group of buildings of which the Augusteum was the
centre was profoundly modified by the fire of the Nika
Sedition, and by the building energy of the emperor. The
researches of Labarte and Paspates have been almost entirely
confined to the elucidation of the palace as it existed in the
tenth century.

A restoration of the relative position of the several parts
of the palace, unless by the discovery of remains positive
evidence is obtained, is certainly impossible ; the attempt of
Labarte was worth making, but Paspates, in bringing forward
another scheme, seems only to have succeeded in showing
how conjectural the whole matter is, although he speaks of
certain scraps of walls as belonging to this or that part of
the palace with as much confidence as if he had found them
labelled. His work carries internal evidence of the greatest
inexactness and confusion, and has proved most misleading,
although his citations are valuable.

It should not be assumed that wherever a palace is
mentioned by the historians the " Great Palace " is the one
referred to, and it must be remembered that the palace
described in the Ceremonies was the result of gradual growth :

S. SOPHIA

indeed, what is required is a chronological analysis of its
history. We have seen in the first chapter that according
to the Paschal Chronicle Constantine built a palace by the
hippodrome, and the Notitia mentions the palaces of Placidia
and Marina in the same neighbourhood. According to Pro-
copius the palace was almost rebuilt by Justinian, but he only
specifically mentions the Chalke.

Remains of a palace now on the sea-wall, exactly to the
south of the curve of the hippodrome, are thought to be
portions of the palace " Hormisdas " which Justinian
occupied before he came to the throne (B, on Plan, Fig. 2).
Close to the sea-wall farther to the west was the double
church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus and SS. Peter and Paul, of
which the first survives as Little Sancta Sophia (A, on Fig. 2).
These were early works of Justinian, and his monogram and
that of Theodora appear on the capitals of S. Sergius.

Procopius tells us that the church of S. Sergius was " close
to the king's palace which was formerly called by the name
of Hormisdas. This was once his own private house," and
when he became emperor " he joined it to the other imperial
apartments." The Great Palace was higher up the slope,
against the hippodrome and Augusteum, to which its gates
opened.

It was long after Justinian that the great palace reached its
maximum development ; the Chrysotriclinum was erected by
his successor Justin IT. The houses of Marina and Placidia
were still in use at the end of the sixth century, although this
is mentioned by neither Labarte nor Paspates. The wedding
of the daughter of Phocas was celebrated in the former,1 and
"the Royal palace of Placidia" is referred to by John of
Ephesus. The writer tells us that Tiberius II., the successor
of Justin II., made large additions to the palace. Before he
reigned alone the wife and daughters of Tiberius occupied
the house of Hormisdas, " as it was situated just below the
palace, and he would go down and spend the evening with
them and return early in the morning to the palace." 2

Justinian II. also added to the palace, and in the ninth

1 Bury, vol. ii., 202.

2 L of Ephesus wrote circa 590, R. Payne Smith's translation.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 175

century Theophilus built the Tri concha. Basil the Macedo-
nian still further increased the assemblage of buildings.

It is clear that in the time of Justinian there were at least
four more or less separate palaces grouped together — the
Great Palace, Hormisdas, and those of Marina and Placidia.

Hippodrome. — The information in regard to the hippo-
drome brought together in the works hefore mentioned, and
by Gyllius, cannot be recapitulated here.1 As the ground fell
away steeply towards the south, that end had to be raised
high on vaults, and this retaining wall, perhaps forty feet
high, forming a semicircular curve, still exists.2 On either
side rose the tiers of the marble seats. At the north end
was the royal stand, called Kathisma, from which the
emperors watched the games ; this was raised above arched
chambers, where the chariots for the arena were kept. The
south-west end was called Sphendone — The Curve. A
rough draft of Constantinople, made early in the fifteenth
century for Bondelmontius, reproduced by Mordtmann, shows
columns standing on the retaining wall around this curved
end. A clear representation of this semicircle of columns is
also given in the Nuremberg Chronicle. Banduri repro-
duces from Panvinius, who wrote in the middle of the six-
teenth century, a drawing of the hippodrome which seems
to have been made with considerable care. Beneath it is
written, " The ruins of the circus or hippodrome of
Constantinople as they were a hundred years before the
capture of the city by the Turks." 3 But that it should
have been in a ruinous state at this time is not borne out by
the accounts of writers like Clavijo and Bondelmontius, who
described it in the generation before the Fall : on the contrary,
we should suppose this to be one of the draughts for the
Venice view of the city published about 1570, with which
it agrees in many respects.4 This bird's-eye view shows
the monuments on the Spina, the Grand Stand and its

1 See also Rambaud, Revue des Deux Monies, Aug. 1871.

2 See plan and view in Strzygowski und Forchheimer, Die Wasser-
beb'dlter von Konstantinopel.

8 Imperium Orientate, p. 664.

4 See Ancien Plan de Constantinople imprime entre 1 566 et 1 574, avec Notes
explicatives par Caedicius, 1890.

i/6 S. SOPHIA

"Podium" of vaults, and also the high external retaining
wall of the curve, above which the columns again appear, but
set back from its face, so as to leave a passage outside the
columns, the outer wall being finished with a battlement. It
is true that in the engraving it is rendered as if these columns
were attached to a wall, or rather as if a wall were built
between the columns, for they appear both inside and out ;
but this interpretation cannot be given to a description of
this colonnade by Gyllius.1 " In the front of the hippodrome
facing the Propontis there was a range of seventeen pillars of
white marble standing when I first came to Constantinople,
going round that part of the hippodrome which lies between
south and west." They stood on a low wall, about two feet
six inches high towards the hippodrome, but outside it was fifty
feet to the ground. They were of the Corinthian order, three
feet five inches in diameter and twenty-eight feet high, standing
eleven feet apart on pedestals ; above them was an architrave
to which rings were fixed for curtains. " Above was another
range of pillars, which were remaining some time after the
taking of the city by the Turks." These last were only
reported to Gyllius ; and if we accept such a second tier we
may suppose that it ranged with a colonnade surmounting the
containing wall of the terraces of seats. Paspates makes
from this account a wonderful and impossible arrangement ;
he supposes the first-mentioned columns to have been con-
tinued along the external sides of the hippodrome, he further
rears the second range on them, and this, he thinks upheld the
immense mass of the rising seats. " If we suppose," he says,
" the height of those in the upper row to have been twenty-
one feet, we have about fifty-six feet as the height of the wall
on which the seats for the spectators were built."

These columns probably formed an open screen through
which the spectators might see the sparkling waters of the
Propontis, set with the blue jewels of Prince's Islands and
the white peaks of Olympus rising far away to the left — one of
the most beautiful scenes in the world. This addition of a
natural spectacle behind the scene was frequently obtained
in ancient theatres : the best known is that at Taormina.

1 Ed. 1562, p. 91.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 177

Clavijo 1 speaks of the hippodrome as being " surrounded by
white marble pillars," but he adds " thirty-seven in number."
The anonymous Russian who wrote about the same time
says " thirty columns and their summits are united by an
architrave." See Fig. 2. An " open hippodrome " and
a "covered hippodrome" are mentioned by the Byzan-
tine writers. Labarte distinguishing them, placed the
latter within the palace. ByeTjayev, however, conjectures
that the covered hippodrome was a part of the Great
Hippodrome. Be this as it may, the " rings for curtains "
of Gyllius suggest that portions were sheltered by a
Velarium.

Bondelmontius 2 writes thus of the hippodrome : " In
it those of noble birth joust in the presence of the people,
and there are combats and tournaments. It is 690 bracchia
long and 1 34 wide, and it is built above vaults, in which a
cistern of the best water covers the whole of the space
mentioned. At the head of the hippodrome are high pillars
[of Kathisma] where the emperor sits with his nobles, and on
both sides in its length are seats of marble arranged in steps
where the people sit and see all the games." On the outside
towards S. Sophia there was the church of S. Stephen, " from
the galleries of which the ladies watched their chosen
champions." On the Spina he notices a fountain where the
wounded were laid, the two obelisks, and the three serpents
" with open mouths from which, it is said, on days of jousting
water, wine, and milk used to spout." At the end of the
Spina were four small marble columns where the emperor sat
on feast days.3

Besides the bronze serpentine column from Delphi, there
still stands in the hippodrome an Egyptian obelisk, set up by
Theodosius I. on a pedestal sculptured with a representation
of the emperor viewing the games from the Kathisma, and a
record of the methods used in erecting the obelisk by means
of ropes and winches. Nicetas in his life of S. Ignatius

1 Hakluyt Society, 1859, P- 34*

2 Migne, S.G. vol. 133, p. 695.

3 Texier figured in the Revue Arch'eologique, 1845, a small fountain
found near the hippodrome to which it probably formerly belonged.

i78

S. SOPHIA

says that a brazen pine-apple surmounted this obelisk. A
third monument is a large built-up obelisk of stone, pitted
all over where pins which attached bronze plates were in-
serted. An inscription often quoted, records that Con-
stantine, father of Romanus, repaired it and added to its
beauty. The casing of bronze was probably covered with
reliefs and ornament, as was the case with the pillar in the
Augusteum, and the anemodulium, which was set up by
Theodosius in the Forum Tauri. This last was an obelisk
entirely cased with bronze, " having reliefs 1 of cattle, sheep
and skipping lambs ; peasants labouring or playing on their
pipes, and birds ; there was also represented the sea, and
sea-gods, and cupids playing at ball. On the point was a
statue of a woman which turned to the slightest breath of
the wind."

Among the statues in the hippodrome mentioned by Nicetas
as having been destroyed was the colossal bronze Hercules,
and a sundial which was in the form of an eagle with wide
expanded wings trampling on a serpent. The twelve hours
were marked out beneath its wings, six on either side, and
the sun shining through a hole in each wing marked the hour
or the day. Near the eastern goal was a row of statues of
charioteers, driving their chariots and turning the goal.
Besides these there were many other statues of persons and
animals ; an elephant with a proboscis that moved is men-
tioned, but it is not clear however that this last was in the
hippodrome.

Sigurd, King of Norway, saw the games given here in
1 1 1 1 ; there was a spectacle in which people appeared as if
riding in the air, some sort of fireworks, also music with
playing of organs, harps, and other instruments.2 Benjamin
of Tudela ( 1 1 6 1 ) says, "lions, bears, and leopards were shown,
and all nations of the world were represented, together with
surprising feats of jugglery." The hippodrome was used
for spectacles after the change of masters. An Italian MS.
of 1582 in the British Museum describes the ambassadors
and princes sitting on staging, with a large stand for the

1 Nicetas, ed. Bonn, p. 857.

2 An organ is shown on the sculptured base of the obelisk of Theodosius.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 179

band in the "piazza" of the hippodrome ; the Sultan and
his son sat on an inclosed and covered throne.1

Augusteum. — " In front of the palace," says Procopius,
" there is a forum surrounded with columns. The Byzantines
call this forum the Augusteum. On the eastern side stands
the Senate-house." Other writers speak of it as the Agora of
the Milion, or simply as the Milion, from the building which
adjoined it. Zonaras seems to call it the Proaulion of the
Great Church. Round its sides were peristyles, and the
buildings mentioned in the first chapter, most of which were
re-built by Justinian. It was laid with a marble floor of
long slabs, a portion of which was discovered many feet below
the present level, together with the inscribed base of the
silver statue of Eudoxia, when Fossati built the new
government offices in 1848.

" Outside the palace the public baths of Zeuxippus and
the great porticoes and all the buildings on either hand as far
as the Forum of Constantine are the work of the emperor
Justinian." 2 Large pillars have frequently been found which
appear to have formed part of colonnades in the Augusteum.
Gyllius saw seven large Corinthian columns, forty-six feet
high over all and " twenty foot ten digits apart." On the
shaft of one was cut the name of Constantine, with the
signal of the cross he saw in the heavens, and the inscription
£N TOYTCO NIKA. These, he seems to suggest, may have
belonged to the Milion. On this is built up a characteristic
piece of restoration by Paspates, who sees in the seven
columns, standing over twenty feet apart, and obviously in a
straight line, " a square building resting on seven columns,"
to which he adds an upper range of pillars supporting a
domed chamber. Bondelmontius, who is also cited for these
columns, says there were six, and all in a row. They were
almost certainly a part of the nine columns seen by Clavijo3
before the Fall, when he was told that " a great palace used to
stand on the top of them, where the patriarch and his clergy
held their meetings."

1 MS. Mus. Brit., Sloane 2742, xvi. c.

2 Procopius.

3 Hakluyt Soc, p. 36.

N 2

i8o

S. SOPHIA

This great square, surrounded by colonnades, contained
so many statues and other works of art that Labarte well
calls it an open air museum. To the north, opposite the south-
west corner of the church, was the colossal bronze equestrian
statue of Justinian surmounting a pillar, which, according to
Procopius, stood on seven stages of steps and was covered
with bronze reliefs. The king looked to the east, and
carried the orb of the earth surmounted by a cross in his
hand. The pillar had originally been erected by Arcadius to
support a silver statue of Theodosius his father. The
statue of Justinian, which replaced that of Theodosius, was
destroyed by lightning in 1492.1 The fragments were seen
by Gyllius, and, from measurements which he gives, it seems
to have been from twice to three times natural size.
Bondelmontius says the pillar was seventy cubits high. A
very good drawing of the statue, now amongst the MSS.
of the Serai library, made about the year 1 340, is reproduced
by Mordtmann. This pillar and its statue is often called
the Augusteum, and it probably gave its name to the place
in which it stood.

The Milton. — It is probable that the city milestone existed
before Constantine, who may have built the structure over
it. According to Du Cange 2 the Augusteum, with which
it was so closely associated, was often called by its name ; so
that Codinus tells us that the church of S. Phocas was built
" in the Milion." It appears to have formed the western
boundary and gate of this forum, or at least of its inner
part, if divided, and to have been connected with a colonnade
running north and south as well as with the Mese. It is
spoken of as a colonnade {embolos}, as vaulted {kamara and
phournikon), or as having many arches (apsides). Cedrenus
and other writers speak of statues in the apsis or kamara of the
Milion. It can hardly be doubted that it had four large arches
facing different ways. A structure of this kind remains at
Lattaquieh, which is about ten metres square and was sur-
mounted by a dome. De Vogue 3 compares it with ruins

1 Nuremberg Chronicle.

2 Constantinopolis Christiana, lib. i., ch. xxiv.

3 La Syrie Centrale, p. 75.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 181

of a similar erection found at Palmyra, the Mesomphalion of
Nicaea, and the Umbilicus of Antioch described by Dion
Chrysostom, and others. This last stood at the centre of the
two great colonnaded streets that ran east to west and north
to south through the city.

The principal reference to the Milion is the description
by Nicetas 1 of the struggle with the insurgent troops in the
reign of Alexius Manuel. " As many buildings as adjoined
the Great Church and commanded the Augusteum were seized
by the rebels, who scaled the large apsis which stands over
the Milion, and also fortified the church of S. Alexius, which
is joined to the Augusteum. But the imperial troops made
a sally from the great palace and established themselves in
the church of S. John called Diippus ; and the agora was
full of men who were injured by those on the apsis of the
Milion, and on the church of S. Alexius. But fresh troops
from the palace filled all the thoroughfares and passages
leading to S. Sophia. The rebels, coming out of the
temple and passing by the Augusteum, became engaged with
the others in the narrow ways, and the conflict remained
uncertain, until the imperial troops drove back from the
streets those who had come out of S. Sophia and shut them
within the Augusteum. The imperial troops broke open the
gates of the Augusteum, and the rebels were forced from the
top of the Milion by the troops mounting the apsides, while
the rest of them, being worsted in the Augusteum, gave way ;
but a shower of missiles was kept up from the part called
Macron, overlooking the Augusteum, and the neighbouring
chamber of Thomais. They took refuge in the pronaos of
the church, where is the Archangel Michael in mosaic
standing with drawn sword as if on guard. The imperial
troops, because of the narrowness, were unable to follow
them with advantage, nor did the insurgents dare to trust
themselves out again. The patriarch descended into the
proskenion or protekdikeion of the church, and then harangued
them to prevent further sacrilege."

In the Ceremonies we twice read of the emperor
passing through the nave of S. Sophia and its Royal Gate,
1 Ed. Bonn, p. 307 et seq.

182

S. SOPHIA

then across the narthex, and, by the louter (fountain),
reaching the steps of the athyr (atrium). " Then he passes
through the Milion, and along the Mese and reaches the
Forum, where is the Chapel of S. Constantine." Labarte,
wrongly explaining this as the Forum Augusteum, instead
of that of Constantine, makes the louter the baptistery,
and the athyr its porch. Other processions from the
Palace to the Church through the Milion have been given
by Labarte.

The colonnades adjoining the Milion are mentioned in the
account of a fire which attacked a part of the Great Church
in the reign of Isaac Angelus. "The parts by the apsis of
the Milion, and the Macron, and the place called the Synods
were burnt. The porticoes of Domninus were reduced to
ashes, as well as the two covered ways starting on both sides
of the Milion one of which reaches to the Philadelphion." 1
The Philadelphion was towards Constantine's forum, and the
other way probably led from the Milion north and south to
the church and the palace gate.

We learn from Agatho the Deacon 2 that in the porticoes
(stoat) of the Milion were represented the seven QEcumenical
Synods of Constantinople ; this is probably what is meant
by Nicetas, where he speaks of "The Synods" as quoted
above (see, however, Mordtmann, p. 68). The seven synods
is one of the iconographic schemes given by the Byzantine
Manual, and they are represented in the mosaics at the
Nativity Church at Bethlehem.

Horologium. — In close connection both with the Milion
and the church was the court of "the time-measure" — a
sundial or water-clock. At the triumphal entry of Basil
" they passed along the Mese up to the Milion, and entered
through the embolos of the Milion into the Horologium,
and, having put off their crowns in the metatorium within
the Beautiful Gate, they entered the narthex." 3 The
Horologium is constantly spoken of as being near the
baptistery, and was certainly on the south side of the
church.

1 Nicetas, p. 733. 2 Quoted by Buzantios.

3 Ceremonies, appendix ad lib. i., p. 502.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 183

Baptistery. — In our first chapter we have given reasons
for supposing that the round building at the north-east
formed part of the earlier church and became the baptistery
of Justinian's building. Buzantios considered that the
former was the baptistery " perhaps also used as a sacristy."
A knowledge of an earlier baptistery would seem to be
implied in the way the south-west building is spoken of by
Porphyrogenitus and later writers as the " Great Baptistery
by the Horologium."

According to Codinus and the Anonymous the Great
Baptistery was built before the church, and Salzenberg
thought the style was earlier than that of the church. Is
it possible that this was built as an independent church
and only ultimately became the baptistery ? It appears
from the account of the Russian pilgrim Anthony that in
the twelfth century its dome was painted with the baptism
of Christ in Jordan, a scheme which agrees with the two
baptisteries at Ravenna.

St, Peter s Chapel \ &c. — To the east there were some
detached buildings, at least in later times. The Anonymous
we have seen mentions a chapel of St. Peter as near the
skeuophylakium. Anthony speaks of this chapel, in which
St. Peter's chains and the carpet of St. Nicholas were pre-
served, as behind the altar. The anonymous Russian says a
chapel of St. Nicholas was behind the bema, and also speaks
of a marble basin covered with a lead roof, " where they
baptise the emperors " as being behind the altar, in a space
set round with cypresses. Anna Comnena also mentions
"the chapel of the Hierarch Nicholas" as part of the
Great Church and a place of sanctuary.1 The passage of
St. Nicholas is also referred to. It is possible that this
chapel was otherwise known as St. Peter's, and either this or
" the place where they baptise the emperors " may be the
present round building — the ancient baptistery as we suppose.
That St. Peter's chapel was of some importance and detached
seems clear from the Menologium. On January 16 was
celebrated the adoration of St. Peter's chains. It is explained
that after Peter's release, " the chains were found by some
1 Ed. Bonn, v., p. 266.

184.

S. SOPHIA

believers and guarded from generation to generation until
they were brought to Constantinople by a pious emperor
and placed in the church (veto?) of St. Peter which is near
St. Sophia." We have given a picture of the chains in
Figure 8. A tradition of some of these buildings may be
preserved in an Italian MS. of 1 6 1 1 in the British Museum.
" The ancient buildings round the church have been ruined
by the Turks except a small part of the close (cammed),
where they have made dwellings ; there is also the sacristy
and the place of the baptistery, which had originally three
vaulted ceilings, one above another. It was of wonderful
architecture and made with six angles. From the sacristy to
the base of the dome is an arquebus shot ; between it and
the Seraglio lies a road."

Boundaries. — Probably the fullest and clearest account of
the approach to the church through the Augusteum is given
by the Spanish ambassador Clavijo, who was at Constanti-
nople in 1405, at a time when many of the buildings in the
precincts had been destroyed. In a court in the front of the
church, he saw " nine very large columns of white marble,"
and he was told that before his time a palace had been here,
where the patriarch met the canons in chapter. "And in
the same place before the church stands a stone pillar of
marvellous height, on the top of which is a horse of copper
as large as four horses put together ; on the horse was an
armed knight with a great plume on his head like a pea-
cock's tail. The horse has chains of iron round its body
secured to the column to prevent it from falling, or being
moved by the wind. The horse is very well made, and one
fore and one hind leg is raised, as if it were in the act of
prancing. The knight, on its back, has his right arm raised,
with the hand open, while the reins are held with the left
hand. This marvellous horse is said to have been placed
here by the Emperor Justinian, who erected the column.
At the entrance to the church under an arch in front of a
gate, is a place adorned with four columns, and below is a
little chapel ve^y rich and beautiful. And beyond this chapel
is the gate to the church covered with bronze very great and
high ; beyond again is a little court surrounded by high

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 185

galleries [horologium ?]. Afterwards there was another
gate of bronze [the south porch]. Beyond this gate
there is a 'nave' vast and high, with a ceiling of wood
[the exonarthex]. And on the left hand there is a
cloister very large, and beautiful [the atrium], with many
stones of jasper of infinite variety of colour. On the right
hand under the said nave — covered as I have said — and
after the second gate, you arrive at the body of the church,
which has five doors, high and large, covered with bronze, of
which that in the middle is the greatest." 1

The present south porch we should suppose is the pronaos
mentioned by Nicetas as that where the Archangel Michael
stood on guard. The exonarthex is now vaulted, but not
covered with mosaic ; it is bare and rough, and it seems pos-
sible that at one time there may have been a ceiling of wood.

Stephen of Novgorod (1350) says that the first gate
of the church was by the column of Justinian ; then there
was a second, a third, fourth, fifth and sixth and by the
seventh you entered the great church. This may be
exaggeration, but Gyllius speaks of the south entrance
formerly being by six vulvae of brass, " now there are only
three, ingeniously worked," so that there would appear to
have been at least one more double door in his time than
the two now existing. If we consult the careful drawings
made by Grelot, which take us half way back to the con-
quest, we shall see that the boundaries of the cypress garden
on the south side agree entirely with the present walls.
The first of the turbehs was built here about a hundred
years after the conquest, and we may almost safely assume
that it was backed against the outer wall, as at present.
Now when we find Clavijo, some fifty years before the
conquest, in approaching the church from this side, speak
of an outer gateway and a court before the church was
reached, we shall almost certainly be justified in placing
this outer gate on the present boundary. The fountain
in the south court we suppose occupies the site of an
ancient fountain. A comparison of Grelot's plan (1680)
with Fossati's (1850), will make clear the south boundaries
1 Hakluyt Soc. series.

i86

S. SOPHIA

of the church, as they existed at the time of the conquest.
The octagonal building attached to the south side of the
church shown in Fossati's plan must be Turkish, probably
the library of the sultan mentioned by Pococke.

The palace of the patriarch, with the library of the
Thomaites, we would place on the ground between the
south boundary and the church, the gardens which belonged
to it occupying the ground of one of the courts. It had
evidently been destroyed by the time of Clavijo's visit,
and for what is known as to the buildings we must refer
to Paspates.

The courts to the north of the church were probably
occupied by the cells of the clergy and the college called
Didaskalion (see our page 49) ; Bondelmontius speaks of
" the way of a thousand columns in pairs " (the Mese)
through which the emperor walked to S. Sophia " where the
houses of the 800 clergy were round the church." 1

The Atrium. — The street lying at an angle to the west
wall of the entrance courtyard, rising steeply towards the
hippodrome, is probably ancient.

Some considerable remains of the atrium colonnade were in
existence in the present century, but they were finally de-
stroyed in 1 873. 2 The present boundary of the western court
appears to occupy the position of the exterior west wall of the
atrium. Outside it there is a level roadway, beyond which
the ground falls rapidly to the street. As the church stands
across a hill the ground had to be made up to a level, and
this, together with the position of the street, would account
for the court not having been square as was usually the
case. As excavations have shown that the pavement of the
Hippodrome and the Augusteum were eight or ten feet
below the present level,3 steps would have been required
to attain the level of the church at the west. The
Ceremonies show that the royal processions entered and
left the church on the south side through the Augus-
teum, which served as a great forecourt to the church on

1 Anna Comnena also speaks of the houses of the Great Church.

2 See Curtis Broken Bits of Byzantium, part 2.

3 Paspates, p. 40.

188

S. SOPHIA

this side. Without doubt this was the principal entrance.
Clavijo and other visitors all appear to have entered the
church from the south. When Grelot's western view was
made (before 1680) no west doors to the atrium existed, but
it was entered from the north and south only. In our plan
we have therefore shown only one door in the west wall
of the atrium, possibly there was none (Fig. 3).

Outside the present south-west entrance of the court there
remained until 1869 a stone inscribed

+CACGCEN9AAEKATOIKIMHAEI ....

Its form suggests that it was a step, or it may have been a
lintel from one of the doors into the atrium or the rim
from a fountain.1 The words "The Holy God dwelleth
here let no . . . . " may be compared with the inscriptions
for fountains and gates given on pages 84 and 264.

This atrium court of S. Sophia was called by the
Byzantine authors auk, mesaulion, aithria, and by some late
writer, garfonastasiony which Du Cange explains as " the place
where pages wait." The cloistered walk originally sur-
rounded it and formed a quadriporticus ; although the eastern
walk, the present exonarthex, is inclosed and entirely different
from the other colonnaded walks, the atrium is often referred
to as " Four-porticoed " (Tetrastoon). It cannot therefore
be doubted that the exonarthex with its great piers replaced
the original eastern walk, for the sake of greater abutment
to the church. This is equally clear from the building
itself and the description of the poet. (See Figs. 3, 24, 25,
29). The " Propylaeum " often spoken of must either
be this exonarthex, or the gateways in the atrium.

The cloister walks were vaulted, and the walls covered
with marble. One of the capitals remained in the court-
yard as lately as 1873, when it was drawn by Canon Curtis ;
it resembled those in the gallery inside, with deep sculptured
dosseret and small volutes below. More than one writer
remarks on the great beauty of the marble shafts. They
were set in close order, and we may see from Salzenberg
that, when we add for their bases, they were some twenty-

1 See Curtis, Broken Bits of Byz., part 2.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 189

two feet high, and must have made a fine portico to the
west front. In 1852 two of the pillars were represented on
the plan of Fossati as still in situ : now every evidence of
the atrium has entirely disappeared.

Phiale. — In the middle of the court was placed a fountain,
where, according to the Silentiary, was a " bubbling stream
leaping into the air from a bronze pipe." The name given
to such a fountain by Greek writers was phiale or colym-
bethra, and, by the Latins, cantharus or nymphaeum. At
S. Sophia it was also called " The Laver of the Atrium "
(\ovryp ixeaavXiov).1 The louter or loutron, with its
colymbethra, formed a sanctuary for the pursued : we read
in Procopius of their " fleeing to the church of S. Sophia,
and coming to the holy loutron, and laying hold of the
colymbethra which was there." 2

According to the Anonymous author, on whom we place
no reliance, the phiale had twelve arcades or columns, and
lions spouted out the water. Canopied phialae it is true
still exist at St. Demetrius at Salonica, and in the monas-
teries of Mount Athos. The canopy of the phiale at old
St. Peter's was of bronze ; under it the great pine cone,
which still remains, threw out water in innumerable little
threads. On the canopy were probably placed the beautiful
bronze peacocks, which also still exist.3 A very beautiful
fountain of this kind, at Constantinople, was placed before
the church built by Basil in the palace. The basin was
marble, from which rose a pine cone pierced with holes.
Above on the cornice were placed cocks, stags, and rams, of
cast bronze, from which the water flowed.4

In the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, the basin of
the fountain rests on lions, and the water runs away from the
fountain in four open streams to the four sides of the cloister.

1 It may be mentioned that an Italian cantharus, or font, of the twelfth
century, in the possession of Mr. Brindley, has the Latinised form of the
same word in an inscription around its rim which reads

Artificum summus cui nullus in orbe secundus Hunc luterem clarum
sollerer sculpsit aquae. . . .

2 Quoted by Paspates, Byzan. Mel. Note on p. 340.

3 Lanciani, Pagan and Christ. Rome.

4 Labarte, Pal. Imt>.

190

S. SOPHIA

This work was certainly executed under Byzantine influence,
and it is curious to find more than one small garden fountain
at Constantinople in which the water issues from the mouth
of lions. On the other hand it seems probable that the
Anonymous imitated the description of the temple of
Solomon and the laver, which stood on twelve oxen.
The other washing place he describes (see page 141) with
the different kinds of animals represented, seems to be
founded on the description of that of Basil's church.

Porphyrogenitus speaks of the " cup of the phiale " ;
and it seems most probable, considering the simple description
of the Silentiary, that, as in so many ancient churches, it
was at first merely a bowl, standing on a pillar rising
from a polygonal basin. In the time of Michael Palaeo-
logus, there was such a basin on the sides of which " was
engraved on the marble the honoured form of the cross." 1
A bowl figured by Gruterus2 in 1602 as "newly found at
Constantinople," has been spoken of by Du Cange and
others as having belonged to S. Sophia, although the evi-
dence of this is not very positive.3 This was a circular
bowl very similar to the well-known representation of a
cantharus of Justinian's time in the Ravenna mosaic. The
inscription around the rim read equally well in both direc-
tions.4 This circle being horizontal, we cannot but think, as
it would necessarily be read from outside, that Gruterus was
mistaken in putting the bottom of the letters toward the
centre ; we have therefore reversed this in our figure. The
words " Wash thy sins, not thy face only," almost certainly
refer it to a phiale. Eusebius, for instance, speaking of one
of these fountains, says, " it is not meet for an unclean foot
to step on the sacred place within the temple," and Paulinus
tells us that at Nola those who entered the church washed

1 Pachymeres de Michael PalaeoL, ed. Mignc, p. 703. See also Du
Cange, 8. Sophia, §22. 2 Inscriptions Antiquae totius or bis Romani.

3 Grelot is vague in regard to it. Banduri understood him to mean
that the inscription was on the inner water vessels. The Greek patriarch
Constantios accepts it as having belonged to the Phiale. Buzantios
wildly says baptistery.

4 An inscrip. in Baptistery Florence, reads —

EN GIRO TORTE SOL CICLOS ET ROTOR 1GNE.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 19B

their hands in a
similar place.1 Pro-
bably, so accurate a
writer as Du Cange
had good reasons for
referring the bowl in.
question to S.Sophia.
Dr. Covel of Cam-
bridge, who was at
Constantinople from
1670 to 1677, and
has left a valuable
MS. now in the Brit-
ish Museum, which
we shall have further
occasion to quote,
also gives the inscrip-
tion, which he says came from the fountain of S. Sophia, but
again, it is possible he derived this from Du Cange, or
from Grelot, whom he appears to have met, for some of the
Frenchman's drawings are included in the MS.

In this collection are drawings of two beautiful phiale
cups, which existed at Ephesus when visited by Dr. Covel.
From the simple elegance of their forms we suppose that these
bowls cannot be later than the sixth century.2 See Fig. 27.

Pavement of the Court. — When the Anonymous tells us
that the four boundaries of the church were called after the
rivers that flowed from Paradise, it is quite evident from the
context that he is speaking of the atrium ; and it seems
probable that immediately before, where he speaks of " ever
flowing waters of great rivers," he is describing the pave-
ment of the court as figuring four streams. This certainly
would furnish a reason for the walks taking their names from
the four rivers of marble which flowed towards them, like

1 Sec p. 84 and Kraus for other similar inscriptions.

2 The first, he says, " stands by the entrance to an old Bagno," it was
4' 3^" in diameter. " The second stands in the midst of the cistern in
the square court of the supposed St. John's Church." This was z' 6" in.
diameter.

Fig. 26.— Inscription on Phiale from Grater.

192

S. SOPHIA

the four real streams flow-
in the court of the Alham-
bra. There is much to
1 countenance this theory.
For instance, the atrium of
old St. Peter's was called
Paradise : Symeon of Thes-
salonica tells us the part
outside the doors of a church
represented the creation, as
1* the bema symbolised heaven ;

and the idea might easily be
v referred to the words used
n in the service for blessing
}j the waters of the phiale.

This custom of blessing
the waters on the eve of
Epiphany, to which Paulus

Fig. 27-Phiale Bowls from Ephesus. the Silentiary alludes (see

page 44), was practised as
early as the end of the fourth century.1 Goar gives the
ritual.2 After the evening service the priest with the
censer and candlestick proceeds to the " Inter of the
mesaulion" chanting " the voice of the Lord is upon the
waters." Part of the ceremony of blessing included a prayer,
"We beseech thee, O Almighty Father .... who fixed
Paradise in Eden and bade its quadruple spring flow far and
wide .... who blessed the waters for Jacob, and hast
bidden us, through thy prophet Isaiah, to draw water in
gladness from the fountains of the Saviour." The account
of the Anonymous may be a duplication of his description
of the interior, but outside Charlemagne's church at Aix
there is a pine cone which formerly belonged to a phiale ;
the water rained from it through little holes, and about the
foot are verses referring to the rivers of Paradise and
Baptism.

West Front. — On the east side of the atrium court,

1 Migne, Pat. Cur. Com. Series Graeea, vol. i.

2 Eucbologium, ed. 1647, p. 463.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 193

against the west wall of the exonarthex, rise four great piers
from which spring flying arches to the west wall of the church.
Salzenberg thought that the upper arches were Turkish, and that
the piers were originally intended to support equestrian statues,
which he therefore shows in his drawings. Other writers,
amongst whom is Fossati, say that the bronze horses now
on the gallery outside the west front of S. Mark's at Venice,
taken from Constantinople in 1 204, came from this position ;
but there is not the least authority for this statement, and the
horses at Venice are not half the size of those that would be
required to justify the suggestion. Bondelmontius in 1422
describing the columns of the city, speaks first of that of
Justinian, " secondly of that of the Cross, where are seen
four upright porphyry columns ; and on them were placed
four bronze horses which the Venetians took to S. Mark's at
Venice, but the columns remain." Brocquiere, writing ten
years later, says that " westward [in the city] is a very high
square column with characters traced on it, and bearing on
the summit an equestrian statue of Constantine in bronze.
He holds a sceptre in his left hand, with his right extended
towards Turkey in Asia and the road to Jerusalem as if to
denote that the whole of that country was under his govern-
ment. Near this column are three [sic] others placed in a
line, and of single pieces which bore the three gilt horses
now in Venice." Brocquiere has here certainly confused the
column of Justinian, and that of Constantine, but we may
safely accept Bondelmontius. The porphyry column of
Constantine, situated in the Forum Constantine, at this time
bore a cross with the inscription " Holy, Holy, Holy."
Many modern writers place the four horses in the hippo-
drome, as Nicetas speaks of " the arched starting-places for
the racers, above which are fixed powerful horses of gilt
bronze, curving their necks and facing one another as if
eager for the course " (Ed. Bonn, p. 1 50).

Between the four great piers of the west front there are
now three doorways. If, however, we refer to the plates of
Salzenberg, we shall find that only the two lateral ones are
there shown, and that the position of the central door is
occupied by a window ; this arrangement was seen by Texier

S. SOPHIA

in 1834, and is shown in a MS. drawing of his, now in the
library of the Royal Institute of Architects. Referring
to the views and plan which Grelot published in 1680, we
see the central bay occupied by a belfry, with a pyramidal
top rising above the roof of the exonarthex. Now in
Goar's Euchologium 1 there is a note to this effect, " The
Greeks first took up the use of bells from the time when
Urso Patricio, Doge of Venice, in the year 865, sent
them to Michael the emperor, who greatly valued them,
and built a tower for them against S. Sophia." We have
already seen that large repairs were made to the west front

of the church about this
time (page 123), with a
view of counteracting the
thrust of the vaults. Be-
fore the belfry was built
the Semantron would have
been used ; this was a
plate of bronze or wood
suspended in the atrium
and struck like a gong

Fig. 28.— Semantron at Constantinople, (see Fig. 28). It appears
from Lenoir. from ^ Russian pilgrims

that the bells remained in
use for only a short time. A sixteenth century French
MS. in the British Museum speaks of the old square tower
and bells. Grelot 2 says " this tower, formerly the belfry, is
now void, the Turks having exchanged the music of bells
for the noise of cannon." It was not fifty toises high, and
could not have held many bells, or large ones.3

The upper story of the narthex, Grelot tells us was sup-
ported by six flying buttresses, and both his exterior views
show three complete piers and flying arches on each side of
the tower. The bay next the belfry on the right was occupied
by a low building with a pent roof, in which were descending

1 Ed. 1647, p. 560.

2 Relation Nouvelle d'un Voyage de Constantinople.

3 In Fig. 29 we have followed his drawings disregarding his estimate
of height.

O 2

196 S. SOPHIA

steps, at the bottom of which they drew off water from " the
great cisterns under the church, from which it was said a boat
might reach the sea." As to the doors there were three
towards the west, used when Grelot made his plan, two being
those at the extreme north and south, opposite the lateral
atrium walks, and the other, which was less, and little used,
was next the belfry on the left, and is in fact the left one of
the three present doors. The arches, which cover two of the
spaces between the piers and make them into porches, are
shown in the view by Fossati of the unrestored state of the
front.

Comparing the drawings of Grelot and the plan given ^ by
Du Cange, both published in 1680, with the present remains,
it would appear that there were formerly ten of these but-
tresses ; two being merged in the central belfry, and the two
outside ones incorporated in the minarets, on the sides of which
traces of them may still be seen . Two others have either been
destroyed by the Turks, or Grelot's drawings are wrong to
this extent, as no trace seems to remain of more than eight.
Of these eight which now in part remain, Salzenberg only
reserves the four at the centre, on which he places the
horses. Our Figs. 26 and 29 represent the original west
front and the altered facade of the ninth century ; see also
Plan, Fig. 24.

Cisterns. — On the south side of the right-hand pier is_ a
small arch which gives access to a little recessed chamber in
the buttress. From this and from a similar recess north of
the central entrance, water from the cisterns beneath the
church was probably obtained : a cross on the wall of the
little chamber would seem to show that it was a "holy
well." 1

Clavijo says the cisterns beneath the church would float
ten galleys, and C. Lebrun (17 14) speaks of ten cisterns and
forty columns standing in the water. The only real de-
scription of the cistern we have been able to find is in Dr.
Covel's MS. diary in the British Museum. In 1676 he
writes, " We went to see the vaults under S. Sophia ; they
were full of water, then 17 feet deep, and overhead, from
1 Curtis, Broken Bits of Byz., Part II.

PRECINCTS AND EXTERNAL PARTS OF CHURCH 197

the water up to the top of the arch was about 2 yards and
6 inches. Every pillar is square (4 J feet), and distant from
another just 1 2 feet. The bricks are very broad, thin, and
well baked ; [it is] not plastered within, the mortar very
hard. They say it goes under [the] At-Meidan, but we
could not enter it. The waste water of the Aqueduct enters
into it, and [going] out of it passing through the Seraglio,
goes into the sea by the dunghill. [There is] severe punish-
ment to [those who] have houses with offices [draining] into
it ; or [for those who] throw any filth into it : the well of
S. Sophia [opens] into it and many wells in the Seraglio."
He gives a diagram plan, showing two rows of eight piers
and a third row of three, although, as no boundary is shown,
it is impossible to say if this is the whole extent (see below).1

Generally. — Some of the exterior was doubtless cased with
marble like S. Mark's ; indeed some of the marble plating
remained in Salzenberg's time. " The walls outside (the
Anonymous writes) were covered with large and valuable
stones." Where not so incrusted the narrow coursed brickwork
showed in thin red lines, almost equalled by the thick Joints
of the mortar. From this brickwork the marble lattices of
the windows, each with its slab at the bottom charged with
a cross, shone out fair, and the gray lead of the many domes
rose above all, curve on curve in pearly gradation of light.
The courts were doubtless closely set with cypresses, like
those which now rise about the turbehs on the south side.

Many passages in the Byzantine authors show how much
beauty of site was regarded as essential for a fair church.2
Procopius, describing the Church of the Fountain at Con-
stantinople, says, " there was a grove of cypresses in a rich
meadow of blooming flowers, a garden abounding in fruit,
with a gently bubbling spring of sweet water, everything
suggested the site of a church."

2 See P. D. Kouppas, The Building of Byzantine Churches. 'EXAip.
*iXoX- tv\\. irapap. vol. 20-22, p. 38.

CHAPTER X

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS
§ I. ORIGINS.

It may be well to say a few words on the growth of the
Byzantine architecture, of which Justinian's church is the
perfect flower. This building is often spoken of as if it
were at once the first and the maturest essay in this great
style, but this we might know would have been impossible,
even though the links that led up to it were lost, which is
not entirely the case. It is perfectly true, however, as Mr.
Morris says, that " the style leaps into sudden completeness
in this most lovely building."

The new wants of the Church soon evolved the complete
Christian basilica, which, it has been said must have been in
the mind of the writer of the Apocalypse as the type of the
entire arrangement of the altar, the twenty-four elders, and
the great congregation, in his vision of the heavenly wor-
ship. In the time of Constantine, and in Rome, alongside
of work which was entirely classic, the churches, with fewer
ties to the past to limit development along truly rational
lines, had developed a manner which was a more direct out-
come of the necessities of building with a minimum of
merely perfunctory "architectural" forms— those con-
ventions for the thoughtless expenditure of the workers'
labour, which in still worse times make architecture a
burden to them instead of a delight.

This transitional style is rightly called early Christian,
or Constantinian. In the East, the vital part of the empire

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 199

at this time, a greater change was taking place that brought
back life once again to the arts of decoration ; this may be
expressed in a formula as the re-orientalization of classic
art — the linking of simple massive Roman building to a
new decoration, vividly alive and inventive, frank, ^ bright,
and full of colour, and yet as rational in its choice and
application as the construction. In the modern sense the
Romans may be said to have invented building, and the
Byzantine-Greeks architecture.

The Roman system of arched building, covered with
brick and concrete vaulted shells and domes, had been
masked by non-functional pillars, tablements, and pediments
in what was thought the true Athenian manner ; at the
same time many beautiful decorative expedients were also in
use, such as the lining of walls with large thin marble slabs,
or small pieces of glass of various forms and colours.
Mosaic of gold glass seems to have been known before the
time of Constantine.1 Gold tesserae probably originated in
an at first almost accidental use of portions of the Roman
glass vessels which are decorated by patterns in gold leaf
protected by a thin layer of glass over the surface. Parts of
such vessels are found used decoratively in the Catacombs. ^

Byzantine architecture was developed by the use of brick in
the frankest and fullest manner, especially in domical vaulting.
Wide spans were kept in equipoise by other smaller domes.
The more concentrated supports were marble monoliths,
and the wall and vault surfaces were covered by incrusta-
tions of marble slabs and glass mosaic. Directness, an
economy of labour relative to the results obtained, is perhaps
the most essential characteristic of the art both in construc-
tion and decoration in the great period. This freedom and
rationality mark it out from all other styles of building, or
rather make it include all other styles, for this reaches the
universal. M. Choisy rightly insists on the fact that the
Byzantine builders endeavoured to suppress preparatory and
auxiliary work, and to execute their vaults and domes
without centring. "The greater number of their vaults,"
he says " rose in space without any kind of support. . . .
1 For gold tesserae of second cent, see Bull. Soc. des Ant.y 1893, p. 76.

200

S. SOPHIA

Their method is not a mere variation of that of the West,
but it is quite a distinct system, not even derived from a
Roman source, but Asiatic. Byzantine art is the Greek
spirit working on Asiatic elements." Here we have an
extreme statement in one direction, and the word Roman
must be used in a narrow sense ; for these Asiatic elements
in construction, of which alone M. Choisy seems to be
speaking, whatever were their remote origins must have been
completely absorbed into the larger Rome of the Empire,
and we have no knowledge of any other system of con-
struction in western Asia
from the first to the fourth
century than " Roman,"
unless we subdivide this
into Palmyrene, Herodian,
or construct an imaginary
Persian style out of what
went before and came after-
wards. Choisy himself shows
that a large use of burnt
brick was first made by the
Romans, and that the system
of building vaults in sec-
tions known in Assyria and
Egypt had been adopted by
Roman builders in the East
in the time of Constantine.
But this was the essential
germ of Byzantine con-
struction. It was the falling
away of a dead scholasticism that left Roman building
in the East free to be shaped into Byzantine architecture.
Mr. Bury, who is extreme in the opposite direction, and
makes the same claim for the continuity of Roman art as
he does for the Empire, suggests that Romaic would be a
better term than Byzantine. But whatever name is given to
the political system we must remember that the arts are
shaped by the people, and that the people were truly Greek
who, in the age of Justinian, thought out and left to the

Fig. 30. — Roman Tomb in Palestine.

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 201

modern world the last great gift of Hellenic genius —
mediaeval Greek architecture.

While the art of building in the East, particularly
in Syria and Asia Minor, and possibly in Egypt, was
still distinctly Roman, a ferment and change may be
detected which cannot be matched in Rome itself. Both in
construction and ornamentation there is much already at
Palmyra and Baalbec that belongs to the new, and repudi-
ates the rules of merely official art.

In Rome the dome never appears to have been finally
adapted to a composite building by being directly applied to a
square plan. The dome on pendentives, so far as we know,
was invented and perfected entirely in the East. M. Choisy
figures a building from Jerash, which may be of the third
or fourth century which he considers the earliest known
dome on pendentives. This building, although it is plainly
early, has nothing characteristically Roman about it. A
building of the same class however, recently discovered
by the Palestine Exploration Society at Kusr en Nueijis in
eastern Palestine,1 is an ornate example of late Roman work ;
Ionic pilasters and carved entablature mask the outside, while
within we have a perfected dome on pendentives covering a
central square area, counterpoised by four barrel vaults. We
agree with the Memoir that — " there can be little hesitation
in ascribing this building to the second century a.d."
This building, probably a mausoleum, in adjustment of
parts, and geometrical development might be a Byzantine
church of three hundred years later. It is a little Sancta
Sophia, and taken together with the Jerash building it
makes a class invaluable as a fixed point to work from.2
This however like most Syrian buildings is of stone.

A church at Koja Kalessi in Isauria,3 Fig. 31, which there
is- a great reason to suppose of early fifth century work,
furnishes an important link. We have here an approxima-
tion of the square domed building to the columned basilica
which is most interesting. This church is substantially

1 Eastern Palestine Memoirs, 1889, p. 172.

2 See Fig. 30.

3 From the Hellenic Society's supplement to their journal.

202

S. SOPHIA

Fig. 32. — Church of the Trinity, Ephesus.

complete with women's galleries opening to the nave by a
second tier of arcades just as at S. Sophia.

The next building we should place in the sequence is the
church of the Trinity at Ephesus of which Hiibsch, Wood
and Choisy give plans. The former furnishes a restoration,
and speaks of it as probably one of the earliest of Christian
churches, but there is no reason to suppose it earlier than
the beginning of the fifth century. Choisy speaks of it
as a curious monument of transition already Byzantine in
structure. Before seeing Hiibsch's restoration, we had
placed an arcade in the lateral arches, agreeing in every
respect with his suggestions ; and that this was the original
form is strongly confirmed by the next church — as it seems
to us — in the development. This is the church of S. Sophia
at Salonica, which has long been assigned to Justinian's
reign at a time subsequent to the erection of S. Sophia, but
is now thought to belong to the fifth century. M. Petros

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 203

■ I

Papageorgios
in the Hestia1 of
Athens for Oc-
tober 3rd and
November 1 4th
1893, gives the
mosaic inscrip-
tion of this
church, which
he thinks de-
finitely fixes its
decoration in
the year 49 5. 2

The churches
at Cassaba, An-
cyra and Myra
in Asia Minor
engraved in
Texier's Asie
Mineure, and
repeated by Sal-
zenberg relate

themselves so closely to this chain of development that
we believe they will be found to belong rather to the fifth
and sixth centuries than to the seventh or eighth as those
writers thought. The square type with a central dome
persisted independently without coalescing with the basilica.
Such was the domed church at Antioch founded by Constan-
tine and completed by Constantius ; here the central dome
was surrounded by aisles, and formed an octagon. In the

1 See also Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 1894.

2 The inscription states that the work was done while Paul was arch-
bishop. And —

MHNINO€MBPIU)INAIKTIONIT€TAPTH€TOTC
AnOKTICeOJCKOCMOYC

The vital numerals were defaced, but there seemed no doubt that the

last fragment was a part of S (6000) and as the writer states that there

was only room for one more letter, SA or 6004 (495) is the only year
that will fit the fourth indiction. "The architect BubrofF is about to
show that the church was built in the fifth century."

Fig. 33. — Church of S. Sophia, Salonica. Scale about
forty-five feet to an inch, for three plans.

204

S. SOPHIA

churches of St. George at Ezra, and St. Sergius at Bozra
we have domes standing over a central octagon contained
in an external square. These were built about 515, and
they furnished the type that was followed at St. Sergius at
Constantinople which was built only a few years before S.
Sophia.

§ 2. THE BUILDERS OF THE CHURCH.

It is noteworthy that the architects who built S. Sophia as
well as the historians who chronicle the work, all, so far as
their birth-places are known, come from Syria and Asia Minor.
The flourishing city of Ephesus was one of the great centres
of the transformation of the art of building ; and it was
from the neighbouring cities of Tralles and Miletus, that
Anthemius and Isidorus came to Constantinople.

Of the two master builders who appear to have been em-
ployed together by Justinian, it seems clear, from Procopius
and the other writers, that Anthemius was more especially
concerned in the preparation of the first draft or model, and
that Isidorus, by birth a Milesian, was associated with him in
the conduct of the works.

"Anthemius," says Paulus, "skilled in setting out a plan,
laid the foundation." " Anthemius was the man who devised
and worked at every part," writes Agathias, and this author
gives some account of his life. " Now this Anthemius was
born at Tralles, and he was an inventor of machines ; one of
those who apply designs to material, and make models and
imitations of real things. He was distinguished in this and
had reached the summit of mathematical knowledge, just
as his brother Metrodorus was distinguished in letters.
Besides these there were three other brothers, Olympus,
famous for his knowledge of law, and Dioscorus and
Alexander, both skilled in medicine. Of these Dioscorus
lived in his native land and Alexander in Old Rome. But
the fame of the skill of Anthemius and Metrodorus reached
the emperor, and they were invited to Constantinople, where
they spent the rest of their lives, each presenting wonderful
examples of his skill. One taught letters ; the other raised

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 205

wonderful buildings throughout the city and in many other
places ; these, I think, even if nothing were said about them,
as long as they remained unharmed, would be sufficient to
win for him perpetual glory,"

Stories of his mechanical ingenuity are told by Agathias
one of which is as follows. Anthemius had a quarrelsome
neighbour whose room overhung his ground. He placed
here large kettles of water, with an arrangement of leather
pipes and a tube like a trumpet up to the projecting part ;
and making the other parts secure, " he heated the water so
that the whole thing burst up like an earthquake."

As to the scheme prepared by the master builders for the
building, an examination of the evidence seems to suggest th"
following antecedent conditions and governing ideas. 1 . The
ground levels required a short and wide church {ante, p. 186).
2. An old western apse possibly suggested the western hemi-
cycle of the new church (ante, p. 19). 3. The plan, while a
direct outcome of traditional forms as we have shown, seems
a synthesis of the three types which were then current ; the
Basilican like S. John Studius ; the square church with a dome
like S. Sergius, and the cross plan of the Church of the
Apostles.

At S. Sergius, the expedient of planning columned exedras
to fill out the angles of the square beneath a domed vault
had proved its utility and beauty. For the influence of the
cross type we need only turn to the plan, and observe that the
width across the " transepts " is exactly the same as the length
included by the eastern and western hemicycles.

The master builders not only designed the church, they
came "and worked at every part," and lived with their
building until their death ; they certainly graduated as work-
men, and we hear nothing of their honours or position, only
. of their genius.1 In the words of M. Choisy, " In Justinian's
time, to build was the essential role of the architect."

Both master builders are again mentioned as working
together on the occasion of the fortifications of Dara in
Mesopotamia, having been injured by floods. The emperor

1 A book on mechanics (jrepl irapaSofav /x^xavW*Ta)v) nas Deen ascribed
to Anthemius.

206

S. SOPHIA

on hearing of it at Constantinople " straightway summoned
those most celebrated architects Anthemius and Isidorus
mentioned before, and inquired what might be devised."
The scheme of Chryses, the engineer of the works at
Dara, was however adopted.1

The younger Isidorus who re-erected the dome of S. Sophia
Procopius mentions as having been employed by Justinian in
rebuilding the city of Zenobia in Mesopotamia with its
fortifications, churches, baths and porticoes. "All this work
was done under the superintendence of Isidorus and Joannes,
of whom Johannes was a Byzantine and Isidorus a Milesian by
birth, being the nephew of that Isidorus I mentioned before."

^ To the master builders Procopius, Paulus, and Theophanes
give the names mechanikos,polumechanos,mechanopoios, to which
other writers add protooikodomos — "first of the builders,"
magistros and maistor. The craftsmen appear to have been
classed as technitai with a foreman over each subdivision.
The Latin names of the different building crafts are given
both in Theodosius' code,2 and in the edict of Diocletian,3
which fixed their wages. This edict is bilingual, but unfor-
tunately the Greek synonyms for the workmen are wanting.
In the description of the building of S. Sophia, Procopius
speaks of the lithologos or "stone-layer," who built the big
piers, Paulus and the Anonymous use laotoros and laotomos a
"mason" and "stone-cutter," wherever marble workers are
mentioned, to which must also be added lithoxos " stone
polisher." The general bricklayers, &c. are comprised as
oikodomoi. Tektonikos implies a carpenter. S. Gregory of
Nyssa, in describing a church of S. Theodore, calls the
craftsman who arranged the mosaic tesserae, 6 <rvv$err)<i

A list of the chief classes of workmen employed in the
sixth century on a monumental building in Italy given by
Cassiodorus,4 names the following — Instructor-parietum,
sculptor- marmorum, camerarum-rotator, gypsoplastes, and

1 Procopius in Pal. Pilg. Text., p. 48.

2 Lib. xiii., tit. iv. » Edit, by Waddington, p. 18.

4 Giacomo Boni, // Duomo di Parenzo, in Arcbivio Storico delP Arte
1894, p. 5.

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 207

musivarius. The instructor-parietum is probably the man
who set out the work, the camerarum-rotator is he who
turned the vaults. The gypsoplastes, a literal transcrip-
tion of yvylro-rrXdo-rr]^, signifies a worker or modeller in stucco,
corresponding to the plastes-gypsarius of the edict of
Diocletian. The musivarius is the "putter together of
tesserae" of S. Gregory. Workmen who understood the
mysteries of " vault turning " seem to have been especially
appreciated, as Theophanes tells us that Isaurian workmen
were employed to build the dome of S. Sophia.

In the humblest work the personality of the maker is often
delightfully expressed. A Byzantine brick in the British
Museum is stamped "XP. made by the most excellent
Narsis," and a late Roman glass cup bears the legend " Ennion
made this. Think of it, O buyer."

In his inquiry as to the methods of workmanship, M.
Choisy says the Byzantine Greeks did not efface from buildings
all traces of the workman's individuality. " The workman
is no mere passive instrument, obedient, without any regard
to initiative or responsibility, to the workshop foreman ; he
is treated as an intelligent power, and finds in front of him
liberty, and a field open to his imagination."

In Roman times the system was that we call " division of
labour." " Vart roman est un fait ^organisation." ^ The
workman was not an independent citizen working at his own
pleasure for his daily wants ; he was a functionnaire, and
compulsorily a member of an association organised by the
state on the model of military service. In the East an
altogether freer system seems to have obtained. The guilds
were independent associations, and in Palestine the Carpenter's
Son and the tentmaker followed their callings irrespective of
state authority. "In Byzantine buildings the same name
occurs in turn upon columns, capitals, or simply squared
blocks of stone, and there is nothing to show that the
foreman of the works kept one man at one particular
kind of work. The East never changes ; at present the
absence of division of labour in Oriental buildings is most
striking. The proprietor chooses a master workman ( pro-
tomaistor) ; to this improvised architect he adds a certain

208

S. SOPHIA

number of head workmen (mats tores) and their companions,
and these same men will work at digging the foundations, at
the masonry of the walls, and at the carpentry of the roof ;
even the ironwork and joinery is scarcely reserved for special
workmen." The terms masters and companions suggest an
arrangement which merits consideration. Like western work-
men the Greek artizans were affiliated to corporations which
have lived to our days. These associations (sunergasiai) had
a council, composed exclusively of those, who, by appren-
ticeship and trial, had earned the title of masters (maistores).

Each society was presided over by a " protomaistor "
helped by secretaries (grammateus and kerux), to summon
the meetings. It was at once a corporation of workmen, a
religious brotherhood, and a mutual aid society : and such
societies engaged in mutual acts of hospitality and assistance
between one town and another.

All workers in the East seem to have been thus associated
into guilds, and municipal life was organised on the guilds.
This is evident at Constantinople as early as the Notitia,
see p. 1 1 above. The members of the guilds had to help at
fires, and Lydus gives the cry which brought them together,
" Omnes Collegiati." Demetrius, the silversmith of Ephesus,
called together the Sunergasia when the craft was in danger ;
we even hear of strikes. Even unskilled labourers had their
guilds, and Mr. Ramsay has described the Guild of Street
Porters of Smyrna in Roman times {American Journal of
Archaeology, Vol. I.). The existence of the guilds is the most
significant fact of the social history of the middle ages.
In such craft organisation of labour, free of the financial
middlemen who now rightly call themselves " Contractors,"
we see the only hope that building for service, and ornament-
ing for delight, can again be made possible.

Our studies have convinced us that " shop production "
went on side by side with the building organisation. This
shop production will be at once allowed for such things as
gold cups and altars, lamps and bronze doors, but we believe
that decorative marble work was largely produced in this
way, and that just as enamelled cups and damascened doors
were " ordered " in Constantinople, so also were sculptured

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 209

slabs and capitals. It would be possible to account for mere
resemblance by " influence," but absolute likeness between
the capitals and sculptured or inlaid slabs found in con-
temporary buildings, at cities so far apart as Constantinople,
Salonica, Parenzo, Ravenna, and Rome show that in the
fifth and sixth centuries such works were dispersed from
a common centre. So early as the fourth century S. Gregory
Nazianzenus speaks of a priest who came to Constantinople
" from Thasos bringing with him the gold of the church
wherewith to buy slabs (p lakes) of Proconnesian marble."1
These things were not only bought, but specially com-
missioned ; for instance, the marbles of St. Clemente, which
are almost certainly Constantinople work, bear fine mono-
grams of John, afterwards elected pope in 532. The great
contributing cause for this, besides the political and artistic
position of Constantinople, was doubtless its possession of an
absolutely perfect material in boundless profusion — the coarse
white marble, which we may see to-day so delightfully
wrought in small shops into the tombs, each of which has its
carved tree of cypress, palm, or rose.

§ 3. ORIGINAL FORM OF THE CHURCH.

Dome, &c. — Agathias tells us that when Justinian rebuilt
the dome it was made higher, and that large alterations were
made to the sustaining arches on the north and south sides.
Salzenberg cites Theophanes and Zonaras who give the in-
crease of height as twenty and twenty-five feet respectively.
If we examine the longitudinal section we shall see that the
great semidomes of the hemicycles and the apsoid of the bema
show much less of their curvature outside than the present
central dome. The windows in these do not stand above a
cornice, but are pierced through the vaults at middle height ;
the domical surface being unbroken by any cornice from
springing to crown. The cupola of the baptistery is also
continuous with the pendentives. A dome of this kind,
however, continuing the pendentives, would seem to be im-
possibly flat, and would be some thirty feet less than the*

1 Migne, S.G., vol. xxxvii., p. 1090.

2 10

S. SOPHIA

present height — see a in Fig. 4, the existing dome rising to
b. If a curve between these two be obtained by lowering
the crown of the dome about fifteen feet to c, it may be
noticed that a straight line tangential to the curve of the
eastern apsoid, and also to the great semidome would form
similar contact with the dome.

Salzenberg, understanding an account of Cedrenus as to a
strengthening of the abutments of the dome to refer to the
great buttress masses which rise above the gynaeceum roof,
considers that the external parts of these masses were ad-
ditions made at the time of Justinian's restoration. These
great vertical piles are so essential to the structure, to the
logical beauty of the design, and to the staircase service of
the building ; moreover the preparation for them beneath is
so adequate, that we cannot accept this suggestion, and
therefore follow Choisy in considering them original. Now
Choisy, examining the external base of the dome where it
forms a square, found that the four angles had been in-
creased, and that it did not originally form a square, but
rose above the piers and the lateral arches as shown in Fig. 34,
and in Fig. 37, where the first base is shown by hatching and
the additions by dotted lines, A A. "This alteration,"
he writes, " is not hypothetical. I verified the entire absence
of bond between the first base of the dome and the added
work" (p. 138). These additions were built on the lateral
arches, and on the top of the piers, altering the form shown
in our Fig. 35 to the present form given by Salzenberg.
That Choisy is right, is borne out by seeing the resemblance
of treatment that there would have been between the
growth of the dome on the north and south and the semi-
dome on the west (see Fig. 34).

Again, Salzenberg hardly makes it sufficiently clear that
the large arches in the walls which fill the great vertical
semicircles over the arcades on north and south sides, are in
fact the inner surfaces of the arches which pass between the
pairs of piers on north and south sides (seventy-two feet apart
in this direction), and being the whole width of those piers
(fifteen feet eight inches) on soffite they form the immense
arches so well known on the outside. The semicircles of wall,

212

S SOPHIA

Fig. 35.— Plan of Upper Gallery as first
designed.

Fig. 36. — Section of Aisles and Gallery.

each of which contains twelve
windows, are now filled in
beneath these arches, flush
with their inner faces ,and the
arches therefore do not show
to the interior through the
decoration (Figs, 4, 36, 38).

Now Agathias (see page
30) says that at the re-
storation after the earth-
quake in 558, at the north
and south arches they
brought towards the inside
" the portion of the building
which was on the curve."
This, We think, must refer to
the filling wall, in the arches
of seventy-two feet span,
which we suppose was for-
merly on the exterior, and
thus left an upper gallery
twelve feet wide and seventy-
two feet long open to the
interior. " And they made
the arches wider to be in
harmony with the others,
thus making the equilateral
symmetry more perfect.
They thus reduced the vast
space and formed an oblong
design." That is the arches
of seventy-two feet, when
filled up on the inside, were
no longer visible, and the
dome appeared to stand over
arches of 100 feet span on
north and south, as already
on east and west, the trans-
verse dimension of the

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 213

Fig. 37.

—Plan of Basis of Dome as originally designed,
with Additions A A containing stairs.

Fig. 38.-

That

church being
lessened be-
tween these
points by some
twe n ty-fo u r
feet. Salzen-
berg under-
standing Aga-
thias to refer to
the apparent
arches of 100
feet span on
north and south
is unable to
offer any ex-
planation.
The actual
evidence in the church,
we believe, fully bears
out the interpretation
here suggested. What
we have called the
secondary order of
columns would pass
exactly beneath the
position given to this
wall. These columns
on the gallery floor
are very strong, and
a very strong row of
arches runs along
over them (see Fig.
38). Moreover the
curtain walls in every
other instance
throughout the church
are flush with the
exterior.

this space is not available to the interior of S. Sophia

-Section between Great and Secondary
Orders.

S. SOPHIA

has caused Choisy to criticise the design in this respect
as "a solution undecided, moyen terme, fdcheux ; the large
arches by a departure from ordinary rule being thrown on the
outside so that the space covered by them was lost. S. Sophia
Salonica redressed this error." We wonder that Choisy's
views as to the original base of the dome did not cause him
to take the further step we have here suggested. The pre-
sent form, in which the lateral arches support the square base
of the dome, is at least a possible one ; but that the arches
when they carried nothing and thus were actually vaults (as
before shown by Choisy) were not filled with a screen but
were mere arches twelve feet on soffite, lying against the sides
of the building seems inconceivable. In our Figure 34 we
have amended Choisy's view in this respect. Looking on these
lateral arches as vaults we have filled them with a window
like the western vault, and the harmony which results
between the sides and the west end amply verifies our
conclusions. One point further. The upper surface of the
base of the dome on the west side should not be wholly level
as shown in Fig. 34, the central third curves up following
the line of the top of semidome. In other words, the great
arch of the interior pushes itself up through the base of the
dome, and this treatment thus recurred at various heights —
over large windows of aisles, over western and lateral lunettes,
as we have shown, and over the semidome.

Originally, before the interior was narrowed in the way we
have explained, there was a much clearer suggestion of a
cross plan : barrel vaults at north and south being filled at their
ends with large lunettes like the west vault. We suppose
that the failure was mainly in the secondary order, and that
the window screen and all possible weight was entirely
removed and transferred to the great order. Salzenberg was
satisfied that there had been great alterations in this part of
the building, and Choisy's view of the window-wall, Plate
xxv., entirely confirms his opinion. If it could be shown that
the alteration spoken of by Agathias will not bear the inter-
pretation we put on it, there were earlier troubles at this
part mentioned by Procopius. The best proof, however, we
suggest is found in the design. It has been before pointed

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 215

out that Choisy and other writers have too hastily as-
sumed that S. Sophia Salonica was built after the great
church of Constantinople. That it preceded it enforces
the present argument. Grelot (1680) writes that upper
galleries remained in the church in these positions, but he
based his assertion on the row of seven arched recesses
just above the main cornice which he thought were formerly
open. It is clear however from an examination of the section
that the arches could only have opened to the vault of the
first floor gynaeceum. That these small arches did open to
the vault of the first floor, seems to be borne out by the
fact that above the centre of the secondary order, where its
arch is low, a similar piercing is made, through which (or the
higher arches on each side) and through the seven arches, a
mysterious perspective into the immensity of the dome might
have been obtained by those in the gynaeceum (see Figs. 4,
36, 38). Shallow arched recesses merely used decoratively
seem to have been little known to early Byzantine art, and
arches on the first floor through the great piers are blocked
in a similar way. Moreover such openings would explain
why the vault between the two orders of columns is so much
stilted up into mere darkness.

Atrium. — To explain the present confused arrangement of
the exterior, we must remember that from the time of the de-
scription of the church by the Silentiary to its description by
Gyllius was a thousand years — as long as from the time of
Alfred to the present day — and in this time we may well
expect alterations and accretions.

In Chapter IX. we have shown that the present form of
the exonarthex, with its great external piers, was an altera-
tion, made about the time the belfry was added in the ninth
century. Before that time the atrium was alike on all four
sides — a true quadriporticus — one of the most beautiful
features of the ancient churches. (See Figs. 3 and 25.)

North and South Porches. — Much of the confusion at the
north-west and south-west angles is the result of Turkish
attachments, including the western minarets, which were built
in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. The plan of
gynaeceum floor furnishes the best key to the former

2l6

S. SOPHIA

arrangement, for where there is Byzantine work above, it
must once have existed below. Comparing the first floor
and roof plans in Salzenberg with the ground plan, it
becomes apparent that the main block was originally finished
both at north-west and south-west angles to the general
square of building. The two staircases now at these angles
were added as extra buttressing masses; the original stairs
being the four in the piers of north and south sides. The
north and south porches, with extra building above the latter
on the first floor, were also additions. Besides the irregular-
ity and inferior style of these buildings the following evidence
should be noticed. The actual form of the north-west angle
on the gallery floor ; and the natural reading of the three
plans when laid one over the other ; broad arches, which
pass across the porches ; the fact that the arch in south
porch (dotted in C on Figure 24, see also Fossati, Plate i.)
now has no office ; and that above the door at this end of
narthex, there is a window which now merely opens into the
south porch.

An examination of the exterior on the south side shows
that the south-west staircase was built before the porch,
or the part above it at least, because a straight joint in the
walling, and the form of the roofing, here clearly make
evident that the apex of the gable roof was originallv over
the centre of the staircase, and that the slope has been
subsequently run forward to cover the part above the
porch.

In considering all the other irregularly attached buildings,
together with the historical evidence, it seems clear that the
church as designed and first built was externally a regular
parallelogram, interrupted only by the projection of the apse
at the east end ; which was itself masked by a range of low
chambers against the east wall, through which there were two
entrances to the church as at present, and to which other two
doors, in the east wall, still visible but now blocked, gave
access. The other external doors, besides those from narthex,
being two on the north and one in the south wall ; together
with two external doors at the gynaeceum level, one of which
probably gave access to the gallery along which the emperor

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 217

passed to the church, and the other, to the north, may have
led to the cells of the clergy.

Baptistery and Loggia. — Of early buildings detached from
the church we have the round building at the north-east, which
we regard as having descended from the earlier church, and
the south-west baptistery, with a loggia attached to its north
side. The space between the church and the baptistery on
plan looks like a covered way, leading from the church with
a screen in the middle, but the part next the church is, and
always must have been, open. The part next the baptistery
is covered with a large semicylindrical vault, arched trans-
versely to the " screen," and penetrated by a less cylinder in
the direction of the length of the loggia. Rebates (on
baptistery side) round the doorway which stands between
the pair of columns show that there was a door, and strips
down the sides of the pillars, which stand above the tran-
some, show that pierced slabs or other closures filled the
arched front of the vault. If we add breast-high closures in
the lateral openings, as in the portico of St. John Studius, the
whole becomes an inclosed loggia against the baptistery.
Salzenberg states that there was a door in the north wall of
baptistery, and Labarte places another in the western com-
partment of south aisle of church, but for the latter there
does not appear to be a particle of evidence ; and conse-
quently the court and loggia cannot have formed a direct
passage to the baptistery. 1. Salzenberg on his plan draws
the transverse axis of the baptistery, and that of the western
bay of the church ; these do not agree by a foot or two, but
the doorway of " screen " agrees with neither, nor is it a mean
between them, but varies by excess. 2. In the section
(Salzenberg, Plate xi.) it is seen that the present level of
floor in this loggia is that of baptistery, and is below that of
church ; but the columns have no bases, therefore the loggia
floor was beneath both church and baptistery. 3. A large
arch is shown between the church and west pier of this loggia,
from which it springs properly, while at the other end it
is cut off incomplete by the wall of the church. These
reasons together lead us to suggest that the loggia is possibly
older than the church, and that it may be a part of an arcade

2l8

S. SOPHIA

retained when the present church was built. The style of the
screen would readily allow of its being twenty or thirty years
older than S. Sophia. The capitals are not found elsewhere in
the church, while similar ones form the chief order at S.

i »» y. I

Fig. 39. — Restoration of Loggia by the Baptistery. Scale about eight feet

to an inch.

Sergius ; and the door is inserted between the two columns,
exactly as in the portico of S. John Studius. We do not
however insist on its being earlier than the church so much as
on the evidence pointing to its being part of a continuous
arcade (see plan, Fig. 39). Doubtless it might be de-

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 219

termined from a careful examination whether the loggia or
the baptistery was built first.

The way by which the " Great Baptistery " was reached
from the bema, as mentioned in the Ceremonies was probably
by this cloister, which perhaps inclosed one of the courts on
the sides of the church, spoken of by Procopius and the
Silentiary. The portion drawn by Salzenberg still remains,
although sadly plastered over and mutilated.

§ 4. STRUCTURAL SYSTEM AND VAULTING.

The geometrical scheme of this building, which in its
final form must be the result of hundreds of adjustments,
modifications, and expedients, to meet newly discovered
emergencies, is withal so seemingly simple, that it may be
read as a bare mechanical solution of the primary conditions.

The great central area, excepting only the narrow bema,
is surrounded by two stories of vaults ; the thrust of the
dome over the square of about 100 feet is not only resisted
by these, but by the four immense buttressing masses (or
rather chambers for they are built hollow) which, pierced by
arches, pass right across the aisles. East and west the dome
is sustained by the semidomes of the great hemicycles, and
these in turn by the vaults of the three subdivisions of the
hemicycles. The thrusts are thus distributed in a regular
pyramid. The external wall, which incloses the whole,
being built out to the extremity of the great buttress piers
of the north and south sides, and the lesser piers east and
west, is thus little more than a screen, inclosing the more
active parts of the structure.

One of the most remarkable expedients of this mar-
vellously planned building is that by which the vaults of the
side aisles, — which, having large spans, necessarily spring
comparatively low down — are received on the secondary
order of columns, standing behind the pillars of the great
order. This allows of the stately colonnade on either side
of the central space and those in the four exedras being only
controlled by the height of the upper floor, which is forty-

220

S. SOPHIA

four feet above the area as is explained by Figs. 36, 38.
These secondary pillars also transform the spaces left by the
exedras into square compartments.

Arch Forms. — The great arches under the dome have their
centres two feet six inches above the springing line. Those
in the principal arcade appear to be semicircular. In the
adjoining exedras, the porphyry columns not being nearly so
long as the green ones, they were set on pedestals, and the
arches are "horseshoe" in form, at least towards the
nave, for they are built " winding," so as to approach a square
impost on their caps. We say approach, for there is a
gradual modification; the caps being an inch or two wider
towards the aisles, the impost increases this by a few inches
more. The openings from gynaeceum at west end are
segmental, some arches to the side windows and the lateral
windows of west elevation, Fig. 25, are bluntly pointed. The
transverse arching of narthex is semielliptical, or rather
three-centred, a segment with the curve at the ends quickened
to become tangential to the wall. The pointed arch is used
in the great aqueduct near Constantinople and in one of the
city cisterns : both appear to be of the age of Justinian.1

Vaulting. — The vaulting is executed with the mastery
and freedom that comes of confidence in direct methods.
Certain portions are cylindrical, and others are formed by
cylindrical cross-penetrations. The octagon of the bap-
tistery, and the square compartments of the gynaeceum, are
covered by domes which penetrate down into the angles with
continuous pendentives. The larger compartments of the
vaults of the aisles require some explanation.

Where four semicircular arches open about a square or
oblong space, and it is desired to make the vault conform
exactly to them, this may be accomplished by a semispherical
dome, the span of which is equal to the diagonal of the
compartment to be covered ; such a vault presents an

1 There is no doubt about these arches being truly pointed. They were
drawn so by Dr. Covel about 1 67 5, they appear so in the careful en-
graving in Miss Pardoe's Bosphorus, and these are fully confirmed by
Strzygowski and Forchheimer, Die Wasserbeh'dlter von Konstantinopel,
pp. 12 and 71. The use of the pointed arch in the east is probably an
unbroken tradition from early days in Egypt.

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS

22 I

• unbroken surface. Or two cylindrical vaults may penetrate
at right angles, when the vault is broken by the intersection
into four surfaces. At S. Sophia it was evidently desired
to keep the springing high for the sake of the monolith

Fig. 40. — Construction of Vaults.

columns, and yet to maintain, so far as possible, a domical
surface.

Thus in Fig. 40 the dome springing out of the angle
requires the height a> the radius being equal to half the
diameter ; but it was wished to flatten this to and yet for

222

S. SOPHIA

the vault to rise everywhere from the arched line ey c. Now
if the vault conforms to the surfaces generated by the
revolution of the arc d, /, b, about the axis 0, d, intersecting
with a similarly generated surface at right angles, we get a
mean between the domed and cylindrical forms — a domical
vault. The intersections, instead of being everywhere
square on plan as at xf x, and rising just to the crown of the
vault, as would be the case with cylindrical penetrations, will
be obtuse as at /, /, and not rising so high will practically
leave a large concave surface unbroken at the crown of the
vault. This is the principle of the vaults of S. Sophia ; the
gradations being gentle and the means less obvious, the
forms are more like those found in nature, and the result is
extremely beautiful. The forms are further softened by
every edge of arch and vault being rounded, so that the
mosaic completely envelops the whole like a vast em-
broidered gold tissue.

There would be no difficulty in construction, for the
vault falls everywhere on an arch in the angle <?,/*, b that is
in planes which are radii to the arch. The vaulting of the
narthex is made up of a series of compartments, much nar-
rower than the span, divided by plain arched bands. To
meet the requirements of such oblong spaces two gauges
would be needed. The "winding" of the lines of inter-
section was not to be feared, as they were so soon lost in
the more domical surface of the upper part of the vault.

After the above was written we found the geometrical and
practical construction of these vaults explained in V Art de
Bdtir chez les Byzantins, in a manner which differs from that
here given. M. Choisy's method is first of all to design the
curve of the intersection over the diagonal of the plan as a
segment of a circle : then he considers all sections of each
compartment of the vault, taken parallel to its arch, and
therefore perpendicular to its axis, to be also segments of
circles springing from a series of points on the diagonals,
their centres being on the axis of each vault.

We cannot agree with this, for, although theoretically the
vault so conceived differs immaterially from the solution we
have proposed, yet practically its erection would be full of

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 223

difficulty. M. Choisy's method is that proposed by M.
Viollet-le-Duc for the later Romanesque vaults, in which,
the materials being poor rubble, centring must have been
required. In these Viollet-de-Duc thinks that diagonal
centres were used, and then planks were placed from them
to the generating arches, and the additional height of a
domical vault made up by a layer of earth. It is to be
noticed that diagonal centres in this case almost immediately
produced diagonal stone ribs.

M. Choisy in his most interesting book shows that the
chief consideration in the construction of the Byzantine
vaults was to avoid wooden centring. With this view we
entirely agree, but in the system explained in V Art de Bdtir,
the lines of construction would be arrived at by an elaborate
system, which required fixed axes to the vaults and either a
diagonal centre or a rod revolving in a vertical plane over
the diagonal. Then two rods, forming an angle with its
apex touching any given point in the diagonal curve and
the ends resting on the axis of the vault as a base, revolved
as a trammel for that course of the filling. This had to be
repeated for a series of points.

By the method we have suggested nothing was required
except a single template to a fixed angle, the upper arm cut
to the curve from the crown of the arch to the crown of the
vault ; we may suppose this to sweep round the generating
arches like a trammel, but practically testing the work with
it at the crown, as it gradually grew forward, was doubtless
found sufficient (see Fig. 40). Thus the vault surfaces gave
the conditions of the problem and the intersections found
themselves.

We did not notice the curious " curve of inflection " of
which M. Choisy speaks ; certainly it does not generally
exist, although according to V Art de Bdtir US. Sophia
is the most curious example which remains of this singular
conception, where the spirit of Greek logic did not hesitate
before anomalies of form" (p. 55). We believe this curve
is deduced only by the logic with which M. Choisy's follows
up his method of geometrical projection, which certainly
generates such an inflected curve. We cannot say this

224 s- SOPHIA

without at the same time expressing our great admiration for
VArt de Bdtir ; its freshness of sight, clearness, vitality,
and logic are entirely delightful. Strzygowski and Forch-
heimer 1 follow Choisy's demonstration ; and give an
elaborate and analytical explanation of the curve and its
points of inflexion. One of the cisterns they say showed
the inflected line in the axial sections of the vaults (p. 71).

Now the cistern vaults are roughly built and some of
them may have settled down ; some indeed may have been
designed so that the axial section is horizontal for some
distance from the walls before the doming is commenced,
especially in the long direction of parallelogramic compart-
ments. The essential points are two. Did these vaults
grow forward from the walls and the intersections find
themselves, or was the curve of intersection first designed ?
Are horizontal sections through the intersection of two
vault surfaces just above the springing obtuse or acute?
The vaults at S. Sophia have the angles of intersection so
obtuse that this first drew our attention to the subject.

For a general view of the vaulted system of S. Sophia we
would especially refer to Choisy, whose remarks on the
construction of these vaults are most interesting. He
clearly shows how the large flat bricks made possible the
construction of vaults without centring. The extrados of
the arches from which the vaults spring being splayed to a
skew back, the large surfaces of the thin light bricks allowed
them to be stuck up against this skew back, or any part
already done, much as if they were square sheets of card-
board (see left side of Fig. 40). Indeed the bricks seem
sometimes to have been placed quite vertically, but the
better plan seems to have been to incline the beds, the vaults
were thus built in sections rather than in layers. To take
the simplest instance, a cylindrical vault, the arching would
begin at one end against the vertical wall, the rings of large
thin bricks being placed " on edge " in planes of say 6o°
right down the vault. In other words, in a longitudinal
section of such a vault the joints instead of being horizontal
might be vertical, or a mean between the two. This method

1 Die Wasserbehalter, p. 130, &c.

226 S. SOPHIA

was known in ancient Egypt and at Khorsabad, and the im-
mense vault at Ctesiphon is built in this way. Although
the mosaic covers most of the vaults at S. Sophia, a vast
number are exposed in the contemporary cisterns, and Choisy
seems to have found a cylindrical vault uncovered in a
chamber in one of the buttress masses (Plate ii.), he also
shows the construction of the aisle and narthex vaults (Plates
ix. and xi.), but he does not say if he had any authority
for these. We agree with him that the vaults of S. Sophia
owe much of their exceptional beauty to the fact that arches
do not break up the curving expanse of the vaulting to any
appreciable degree ; in the narthex the arches become one
with the vault, see Fig. 41.

Fig. 42.— Dome Construction.

Domes.— In elaborating his theory of Byzantine dome
construction Choisy refers to a passage in Eton s Turkish
Empire1 which describes domes the latter saw built without
any kind of centring. The builders put a post in the
middle about the height of the walls To this is fixed a
pole reaching to the inside surface of the dome, which is
free to move in all directions. Below is attached to the post
another pole, which reaches to the outside and describes the
outside curvature of the cupola. These give the thickness
at the top and bottom and at every intermediate point.
« Where they build these cupolas of bricks they use gypsum
instead of lime, finishing one layer all round before they
begin another. Scaffolding is only required for the workmen
to close the opening at the top." Our diagram a Fig. 4%
represents this fascinating scheme of building : with such a
rod any point in the whole curvature is defined in a moment ; it
equally gauges the horizontal courses and the rise of the dome.

1 1799, p. 236.

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 227.

Choisy suggests a second scheme which will be made clear
by »• There is no reason, he points out, why the beds of the
bricks in a dome should radiate to the centre of the curve :
in the Byzantine domes the beds were flattened so that they
radiated more or less accurately to the springing of the
opposite side of the dome. The thrusts were thus mini-
mised, and the construction was facilitated. If rods forming
a triangle revolve about a vertical post as shown, the
horizontal curvature is gauged and the top rod will define
the slope for the bed. These rods can then be raised to
another position as shown in the figure. We should have
supposed that little care would be taken with the slope of
the beds, as from the thin bricks used the construction
practically became homogeneous.

Choisy even thinks that the great dome of S. Sophia may
have been built in the air without centring, c, in Fig. 42,
gives his representation of the construction of the semi-
domes, which he thinks were built out some way entirely
without support. The outer arch was then built on a centre
and the filling completed " in space " (a straight joint be-
tween the arch and the dome filling is shown in the figure
in Salzenberg's text). We think it more likely that in all
the larger domes auxiliary support was required " to close
the opening at the top," when the space had been so con-
tracted that a light centring resting on the part already
completed was all that would be needed.

From the importance attached to wood ties or girdles built
into the small domes of Mount Athos, we may be certain
that some system of chaining was applied to the great dome
of S. Sophia. Choisy gives an example of the former, and
also a dome constructed by interlocking semicircular bricks,
" two courses of which make a circlet absolutely inextensible."
See b in Fig. 45. The dome of S. Vitale at Ravenna is built
of layers of earthenware pots or tapering tubes, the end of one
fitting into the next and rising in a continuous spiral course,:
round and round from the bottom to the crown of the dome.

The question of dome construction without centring is of
the greatest interest, and much might doubtless be gathered
of the traditional methods still followed in modern Greece,-

Q 2

228

S. SOPHIA

Egypt, Persia, and S. Italy. Our Fig. 43 represents modern
domes in Persia, the upper diagram being an ordinary type
of exterior from a photograph of Koum. The dome beneath,
Fig. 44, is from a sketch made in a Persian caravanserai^ by
Mr. Wm. Simpson,1 who describes it as built of burnt brick,
square below, round above. " As I was told that centring
was never used in Persia I presume this one was constructed
without it." This beautiful form may be considered as four
conical squinches penetrating a hemisphere as at a, or as
a gradual transition from square to round, b. Ancient
Persian domes of substantially the same form, in which a
hemisphere penetrates a pyramid, are shown by Dieulafoy.2-

Chalnage and Walling. — In the East the frequency _ of
severe earthquakes necessitated a manner of construction
which should resist disruption. The massive walls of stone
of the Classic period are cramped together with metal. The
stone Byzantine church at Ezra has a course of interlocking
stones forming a chain around the octagon beneath the dome
(Fig. 45 a). At S. Sophia the continuous courses of stone
some feet above the floor, mentioned by Salzenberg, are
almost certainly converted into a chain by cramps ; and the
stone course at the springing of the great arches probably
has the same function. In brickwork lateral cohesion was
usually obtained by a system of continuous wood ties, which
is described by Choisy as built into the wall at every five or
six feet of height. According to the Greek architect, M.
Kouppas, ties of bond timbers were used in this way in the
construction of the cisterns, " laid not only along the outside
walls but also in parallel rows beneath the lines of pillars and
arches ; " other rows of timber were built in either as ties or
struts in continuous lines at the springing of the vaults.

At S. Sophia there was doubtless a large use made of tem-
porary ties of this kind during the construction. In many
places at the springing of the gynaeceum vaults the ends of
such provisional ties, which have been sawn away, appear.
Besides these there is a series of wood beams which from the

1 Journal of Roy. Inst. Brit. JrtMs., Jan. 1893.

2 See also p. 247, 1892, for the conditions of stability of dome of S.
Sophia.

Figs. 43 and 44.— Modern Domes built without Centring.

23o S. SOPHIA

first were intended to be permanent, for they are richly
carved (c in Fig. 45) ; these are shown by double lines on
the right-hand side of Figs. 5 and 6, the single lines showing
the iron ties. These carved beams, as Choisy points out, are
struts rather than ties. If we take one of the columns stand-
ing in an angle in the aisles, an impost of marble connects it
with the wall to which it is nearest, and a carved wood beam
forms a strut to the other wall. The beam across the central
bay of secondary order (Fig. 5) forms a rigid strut to the
two wider arches (see Fig. 38, where, however, by oversight
the beam has been omitted ; it is at the springing of narrow
arch high above iron tie). Choisy asserts that " the architect
intended to preserve only the struts, all the ties subject to
extension were removed, but their suppression was disastrous,
and they had hastily to replace them by bars of iron which
were fixed , with difficulty." We do not know what reason
Choisy had for supposing the system of iron ties to be an
afterthought, unless it is because in some cases they appear
directly above the ends of the removed wooden ties. ^ Now
we believe they occur equally above the carved beams in the
openings from the gallery to the nave, and there is no sign
of wood ties having been removed from the ground-floor
vaults, where the iron bars fulfil such an important function.
It is certain that the iron bars to all the nave arches are
original, for the marble casing shows no sign of alteration,
and they are evidently threaded continuously through the
imposts. The important iron ties across the aisles are
shown in Fig. 45 : d is the attachment to the column of great
order, e to impost of secondary order behind it, / is a king
rod. Across the west gallery the span is lessened by stone
corbels beneath the ties g.

With a view of binding the vaults and walls together into
a homogeneous mass, the arched vaulting of the interior was
carried through the thickness of the walls : in some cases
these arches were left open, to be afterwards filled with a
screen of windows. The walling of the sides of the church
is built independently of the great piers, as straight joints on
the exterior show, and Choisy remarks that the independence
of masonry unequally charged was a leading idea in Byzantine

BUTLDTNG FORMS AND THE BUILDERS 231

Fig. 45. — Methods of Chainage.

construction ; indeed it is obviously necessary where the
quantity of mortar is so great that the brick at times becomes
secondary to the joints.

Mortar and Cement. — The mortar used by the Byzantine
builders was called Keramotos, from the crushed pottery or
tiles which was used in its composition. In an article in the
Transactions of the Philological Society of Constantinople M.
Kouppas1 enters fully into the methods which have been
traditionally followed in cistern building, and describes this
mortar as formed of powdered unslaked lime {asbestos),
crushed pottery, coarse sand, and tow or hair, fully a third
being lime, another third the crushed pottery, about a fifth

1 'EXX^v. "I>iXoX. SvXX. irapap. vol. xx., 1 892.

232

S. SOPHIA

the coarse sand, and the rest or 10 per cent, of hair or tow.
These were then mixed together in water.

M. Kouppas also describes a hydraulic cement made of
" coarse lime (titanos) slaked by water into powder, sifted and
laid in layers with cotton shreds. This was thoroughly
mixed, and then olive oil was poured in, and the whole
gradually brought to a homogeneous mass." Andreossy 1
describes a mixture (called lukium) made of a hundred
" ocques " of lime, freshly slaked in the form of powder,
twenty-five " ocques " of linseed oil of the best quality, and
twenty drachms of filaments of cotton." This was reduced
to a dough, and then before using fresh oil was added.
Strzygowski 2 also speaks of a Turkish cement " of six parts
by weight linseed oil, eight parts slaked and powdered lime,
and one part of cotton." He refers to a Roman mixture
mentioned by Pliny of " oil and quicklime."

By far the best and earliest account of the methods used
for obtaining lime and making cement at Constantinople is
contained in Dr. Covel's MS. in the British Museum
(1670-7). The lime was burnt in a pit dug in the ground,
the stone, which was hard and black and like " Plymouth
stone," being piled up in and above it like a. beehive hut, an
opening being contrived in the side for inserting fuel, and a
smaller pit dug in the middle for the ashes ; it was fired for
three days. Then he describes in detail how a cement was
made which recalls what the Anonymous says of the joints
of the piers at S. Sophia being made of unslaked lime
{asbestos) and oil : " To make good lukium (a strong
cement as I may call it) they take the above said calx or
burnt stone and slake it with water, and so soon as it is
moulded and turned into a meal (even while it is warm) they
work it with linseed oil and cotton till it is well saturated
and brought to the consistency of plaster, and make present
use of it, for it will not rest in its perfection above one day
or two at most, and if they use it immediately after it is
tempered it is certainly the best. In the works of their
Bagnos so soon as it is laid on [as a plastering, understood

1 P. 485.

2 Die Byzantinischen Wasserbebdlter, p. 22.

BUILDING FORMS AND THE BUILDERS

233

here] they let the water come to it, which, by tempering the
heat of the lime, hinders it from cracking. Cotton is better
to be mixed amongst it than hair, it being more tenacious
and apt to incorporate." He again describes a similar cement
(" lukium, an excellent mortar ") used in some waterworks.
It is made of unslaked lime and beaten brick most finely
powdered and sifted, cotton wool very thinly pulled and
strewed on, and then all slaked with linseed oil and mixed
together : then they use it whilst it is fresh made, otherwise it
hardens immediately." 1 Such a cement must have had the
hardening qualities of gesso ; the oil cements or mastics used
in England some fifty years ago were closely allied in their
composition. Modern mortar has lost much by our neglect-
ing the tradition of using crushed brick.

Eastern builders spared neither labour nor time in pre-
paring and testing their materials. Tavernier tells us the
waterproof terraces of the Persian houses were formed of " a
layer of lime beaten for eight days, which became hard like
marble." The materials used in Byzantine building were
tested by long exposure, slaked lime was sealed up in pits for
one or two years ; and stones, bricks, and tiles they had found
should not be used new, for, as Vitruvius says, "the only
way of ascertaining their goodness is to try them through a
summer and winter."

1 In another place Covel gives the following. Lukium — unslaked lime,
burnt brick (both in a fine powder), cotton wool very fine pulled and
strewed on, linseed oil. Cistern plaister — Lime, burnt brick, cotton or
flax, water [use] almost dry, smooth it and saturate with oil.

CHAPTER XI

MARBLE MASONRY
§ I. BUILDING PROCEDURE.

The method and sequence of the building operations as
followed by the Byzantines seem to have been very much as
follows. After the form of the building had been more or
less decided, the first thing necessary was to collect marble
monolithic shafts. At S. Sophia the eight verde-antique
shafts match one another very closely ; they are all of one
length, and vary from to 8 diameters in proportion. The
four pairs of porphyry shafts in the exedras differ much
more ; and, as we have remarked, those in the western exedras
seem to be made up of separate drums. The proportions of
these vary from less than 7 diameters on one side to 8 £ on
the other. The great monoliths are the largest known, and
of nearly normal classic proportion, so we can readily see that
it was necessary to have a certain knowledge where such
marbles might be quarried or otherwise obtained, before even
the foundations were prepared, for the columns decided the
heights and points of support of the building. These once
assured, the body of the structure was proceeded with as a
brickwork shell without further dependence on the masons,
who were only required to prepare bases and capitals, and
then the cornices ; everything else was completed as a brick
" carcase."

At S. Sophia the main square piers are in fact stone, but
this was only for strength, not because they were to be seen
finally, any more than the rough brick.

MARBLE MASONRY

235

The building completed in this form we must remember
was made up of vast masses of thin bricks, of which the
mortar occupied probably a half of the aggregate ; this had
to thoroughly settle down and dry before the rest of the
marble masonry was inserted, and the wall casings applied.
The marble work, however, was all the while being prepared,
and, the building once ready, the windows were inserted as
screens in the openings previously left ; marble jambs and
lintels for the doors were placed in position also, with
windows above them filling out to the brick arches. The
walls were then sheeted with their marble covering, the
vaults were overlaid with mosaic, and the pavement was laid
down. In this way, as the bricklayers had not to wait for
the masons, the carcase was completed in the shortest possible
time ; and by reserving the application of the marble until
the structure was dry and solid, it was possible to bring
together unyielding marble and brickwork that must have
settled down very considerably.

§ 2. MARBLE QUARRIES.

Much confusion exists as to the marbles of which the
ancient writers speak ; this has been occasioned necessarily by
wrong identifications when but few ancient quarries had been
recovered, and most unnecessarily by a persistence in using
antique names for modern varieties, long after the true
provenance has been discovered, when the ancient marbles are
not " in the market." It is the Italian names that have been
corrupted in this way, and it would be a great advantage if
they were discarded in England, or better still, used only in
conjunction with the geographical names. In this case as
the Italian names are descriptive, and, as many varieties of
marble are found in the same or neighbouring quarries, we
should get a safe nomenclature. Synnadan would thus be
qualified as Pavonazzetto or Fior de Persico, and the banded
varieties from Carystian, Proconnesian, or modern quarries
might without confusion be called cipollino.

In endeavouring to identify the marbles mentioned by the

236 S. SOPHIA

ancient writer on S. Sophia, we have made use of Salzenberg's
notes to the Poem of the Silentiary, and of the researches of
Garofalo,1 Corsi,2 and C. O. Miiller ; 3 and we have also been
helped by the practical knowledge of Mr. W. Brindley. The
account of ancient marbles easily accessible in Professor
Middleton's Ancient Rome, 1892, is substantially an extract
from Corsi.

Porphyry— The "porphyry powdered with bright stars"
of the poet is used for the columns of the exedras, and for
some of the panels on the walls. The Anonymous author
states that these columns came from a temple of the Sun, but
the Silentiary says «« they loaded the boats on the bosom of
the Nile," and there seems no reason to doubt that the
columns came direct from the porphyry quarries at Mons
Porphyrites in Egypt. This porphyry mountain is at Djebel
Dochan, twenty-five miles north-east from Thebes. Lepsius 4
seems to prove that the quarries were worked as long as- the
Nile canal remained open ; and ships still sailed on the canal
till the appearance of Islam. Letronne 5 gives details of the
method of transit. The porphyry was brought from the
quarry to the Red Sea, and then by the Nile canal to the
Lower Nile, and hence into the Mediterranean.

On this evidence we would say that the porphyry used
at Constantinople in Justinian's reign was quarried for the
purpose, and not brought from Roman buildings.

Marmor Molossium.— "The marble that the land of
Atrax yields," is called elsewhere in the poem " Thessalian,"
and, from the province in Thessaly where it was found,
" Molossian." ■ Corsi and Garofalo both wrongly describe
Molossian as Fior di Persico. The marble really is the
brecciated serpentine and limestone, now called Verde
Antico, the Lapis Atracius of the ancients, of which the
eight great columns in the nave and many others are formed.
Here again it has been said that these eight large columns
were taken from a building at Ephesus, but the Silentiary

1 Blasii Caryophili opusculum de antiquis marmoribus, 1743.

2 Trattato delle pietre antic he, 1833:

3 Ancient Art. 4> Chronologie von Egypt en, p. 36 c.
5 Revue des deux Mondes,. 1841.

MARBLE MASONRY

237

says, " Never were such columns hewn from sea-washed
Molossis," and we can hardly doubt that they were quarried
especially for S. Sophia, together with the rest of the
enormous quantity used in the church. The quarries were
near Atrax in Thessaly, and the marble is best named as by
French writers, Thessalian green.

Lapis Lacedaemonius. — "The fresh green, like emerald,
from Sparta," was probably the porphyry quarried in
Mount Taygetus in Laconia. This green porphyry, called
by Corsi serpentino, is used in the opus sectile of S. Sophia.
As a green porphyry is obtainable in Egypt, the former
should be distinguished as Spartan.

Proconnesium. — "The hills of Proconnesus," according
to Paulus, " strewed the floor." The same marble was also
used for the columns in the upper aisles, for the eight
square columns below, and for the capitals, door frames,
window lattices and other structural parts ; also for the
plating of the lower arcade and other parts of the wall-
surfaces, and as frames to the coloured marbles. It is a soft
white, or white with gray-banded streaks. The quarries
of Marmora are still worked. This marble was greatly
prized in Classic times, and Pliny mentions that it was used
at the palace of Mausolus, where, it is said, the method of
plating brick walls with marble was first applied. It closely
resembles gray Carystian but they should not be con-
founded.

" The Bosporus stone with white streaks on black,"
used for the floor, was probably the ordinary limestone —
black with white veins — used at Constantinople.

Marmor Carystium. — " The fresh green from Carystus,"
is the marble now known as cipollino ; it was quarried at
Carystus, at the foot of Mount Ocha, in the island of
Euboea. Its beautiful greenish white surface, marked with
broad wavy lines of green or purplish gray, was often
praised by the later classical writers. Its resemblance to
the markings of a sliced onion is the origin of its name.
Modern cipollino need not be confused with true Carystian
marble, which the ancient material should always be named.

Marmor Phrygium. — "The marble hewn from the

S. SOPHIA

Phrygian land towards the Mygdonian heights," spoken
of as " many-coloured," has been identified as the marble
which came from Dokimion near Synnada in Phrygia. The
descriptions by Statius and Claudianus of the deep red-
veined marble of Synnada agree closely with the Phrygian
and Mygdonian stone as described by Paulus. It is a
brecciated marble of a rosy colour, slabs of which alternate
with verde antique in the panelling of the side aisles of
S. Sophia.

The quarries at Dokimion were visited by Leake and
Texier, and a recent examination of them by M. Leonti 1
disclosed all shades of " violet and white, yellow, and the.
more familiar brecciated white and rose-red." This beauti-
ful material is best called Synnadan, as the modern Italian
name Pavonazzetto is also used for the streaked marble
quarried at Carrara.

Marmor Hierapolitanum. — "The stone from the sacred
city Hierapolis." This marble has been identified by
Professor Ramsay.2 It was found at Thiounta about ten
miles N.W. of Hierapolis in Asia Minor. It is variegated
like Synnadan, and was much used for sarcophagi ; indeed
Professor Ramsay says, " On every occasion when its use is
mentioned, it was employed to make sarcophagi." It was
called by the name of the great city which is not far distant,
" and to which doubtless orders from the outer world were
sent. Similarly the marble found at Dokimion was always
called Synnadic marble from the time of Strabo, yet Doki-
mion was thirty-two miles from Synnada."

Marmor Iassense. — The " Iassian, with slanting veins of
blood-red on livid white," was used for the phiale. Corsi
identifies this with Porta Santa, but Porta Santa, Garofalo
says, came from Chios, and this conclusion we believe is now
accepted. Garofalo thought Iassian to be the same as the
Carian marble mentioned by Porphyrogenitus in his Life of
Basil the Macedonian, and says it was quarried on the island
quite close to the coast of Caria. A " stone mingled with
streaks of red " is also mentioned by Paulus as brought from

1 In MS. notes lent by Mr. Brindley.

2 Histor. Geography of Asia Minor, p. 433.

MARBLE MASONRY

239

" the Lydian Creek." Possibly the port of Iassus is again
intended. The ordinary Lapis Lydius was a black touch-
stone. The " rosy cipollino," in which wide bands of deep
red alternate with white, used in the panelling of the aisles
does not seem to be mentioned specifically by Paulus ;
unless this is the Iassian marble to which his words would
very well apply. A variety of rosy cipollino, the splendidly
figured red and white marble, is obtained in Laconia.

Marmor Numidicum. — " The stone, nurtured in the hills
of the Moors, crocus colour glittering like gold," is the
beautiful warm yellow African marble from Semittu
Colonia, about fifty miles from Tunis, so highly prized by
the Romans, and now called giallo antico. It is used in
S. Sophia in the sectile work.

Marmor Celticum. — " The product of the Celtic crags,
like milk poured on a flesh of glittering black," has
been identified as the Bianco e Nero Antico, quarried in
the Pyrenees.1 The black marble with white streaks,
which occurs in some of the panels in the nave, is probably
the one to which the poet refers.

Onychites. — " The precious onyx " mentioned by the
poet is the alabastrites or onychites of the ancients. It is
the oriental alabaster (aragonite) used in the horizontal
bands of the nave, and some of the panels. It is a translu-
cent, fibrous stalagmite formation, generally of a clear
honey-colour. Some of the varieties are strongly veined
with white, and others are much darker. Large ancient
quarries of this Egyptian alabaster have been discovered on
the east bank of the Nile.

Paulus appears to make no mention of the dusky black
with dull golden veins used in the bema apse, which closely
resembles the " Porto Venere " quarried at Spezzia.

The marble blocks were roughly hewn into shape with
picks while still attached to the rock, and were then separ-
ated by the aid of metal wedges. Many objects discovered
show that they were sometimes completed at the quarry, at
other times the blocks were roughly brought to the sizes
and forms required. The quarries appear to have been
1 See Boni, who corrects Corsi, in La Basilica di San Marco.

240

S. SOPHIA

officially inspec-
ted. Texier
found many ar-
chitectural frag-
ments and blocks
at Dokimion
bearing the signs
of the inspectors
of the block.
Professor Ram-
say writes: "The
route from Do-
kimion to the
coast is com-
mercially almost
the most import-
ant in Asia
Minor. The
road along which
the enormous
monolithic col-
umns were trans-
ported passed
throughSynnada,
where the central
office for manag-
ing the quarries
was situated."

Ephesus and
Alexandria were
most important
centres for the

working and export of marble, of which such an enor-
mous quantity was required by the Byzantine builders.
The method of slicing up the blocks into veneer is described
by an Eastern pilgrim, Nasiri Khusrau, in 1047. He
says : " In the city of Ramlah there is marble in plenty
. . . . they cut the marble here with a toothless saw
which is worked with Mekkah sand." This sand he

Fig. 46. — Marble Slabs and Frieze in Narthex.

Fig. 47. — Portion of Marble Lining of Aisles. Scale about

242

S. SOPHIA

tells us came from Haifa near Acre (Pal. Pilgrims' Text
Soc. Compare Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvi.)

§ 3. APPLICATION OF MARBLE.

At S. Sophia the application of the thin sheathing and
incrustations (the " crustae " of Pliny) of the " delectable
variety " of marbles is made in many ways. First there are
the large sheets of the grayish Proconnesian, opened out
side by side " so that the veining of one follows from the
next." Then the richer varieties are set in bands and panels
with narrow notched fillets between them, and still more
precious slabs are framed round with carved margins of white.
Over the doors entering the aisles at the west there are
panels with especially wide and rich borders of meanders
growing from chalices. The large panels are very often of
two pieces with matched veining. Fig. 46 shows one of
a row of strongly veined panels from the narthex with the
frieze above. All the wall plating is arranged with delight-
ful variety as to size, and in the alternate placing of light
against dark, so that there is no rigidity or over-accurate
" setting out."

Besides this constant change of size, colour, and arrange-
ment, there is a great variety in the surface treatment. We
have the shallow channelling into continuous mouldings of
the skirtings, some portion of which has a stiff fret sunk in
the surface in addition. Then there are panels on either
side of the great door, and on the faces of the projections
from the great piers in the aisles, coming just above the eye,
(Fig. 48) of plain russet-red or brown which bear severe
abstract patterns, made out by slight sinking into the sur-
face. The centre in some cases is overlaid with an oval or
square of another precious material such as red or green
porphyry or the " onyx " ; the whole of the sunk portions
may have been filled by inlays, or in some the sinking alone
may have formed the design. The upper part of the bema
is incrusted with slabs patterned in this way, and here the
sunk portions are entirely inlaid ; several parts of this are
represented by Salzenberg. In this work " casements " are

(

MARBLE MASONRY 243

sunk into the rosso or other deep coloured field, and green
porphyry and other materials, set off by yellowish-white
lines and spaces are inlaid in geometrical panels, or friezes
of stiff foliage.

Our Fig. 47 shows the arrangement of the marble plating
on the great piers towards the middle compartment of the
aisles ; in this we have shown one of the enriched panels
now only sunk, as inlaid. Fig. 48 gives outlines of others of
these panels. The marble used in the aisles is as follows.
First comes the moulded skirting of white Proconnesian,
then a j'^" band of the streaked variety of the same marble.
A band of verde antique 2/-o" wide follows, above which is a
row of slabs alternately verde antique and Synnadan. A
second similar row of slabs comes above a band of rosy
cipollino. The frieze below the cornice is of marble sectile
work. The passages through the piers are lined with slabs
of streaked Proconnesian marble, nearly fourteen feet high.

The gynaeceum has two bands at the bottom and an
upper band of rosy cipollino ; the wall space between is
covered with a row of vertical slabs of streaked Proconnesian,
except the central space on north side where the slabs are of
rosy cipollino. In the spandrils of gynaeceum arcade at
the west are roundels of oriental alabaster.

Directly over the Royal Door is a very beautiful arrange-
ment of decorated slabs. First there is an immense upright
piece of verde antique in the middle, ten or twelve feet high,
with two lateral horizontal pieces making a great cross,
in the quarters of which are panels with sunk and inlaid
designs. At the head of the cross is a fifth panel which
displays a still richer form of decoration. It represents
a vaulted recess or ciborium between the columns of which
hang curtains, looped back, and displaying a dark field.
Here is the matrix of a cross which was probably of silver ;
right and left of the cross are other matrices, in which were
set crowns or other objects, not to be determined from
below. The two upper lateral panels have sunk geometrical
designs. The lower pair are inlaid ; their centres are
charged with circles, above and below which are pairs
of dolphins. These inlaid designs are made out in por-

r 2

Fig. 48. — Marble Panels with Sunk and Inlaid Panels. Scale about ^j.

246

S. SOPHIA

phyry and green, which are separated by white lines and
spaces which shine out bright, and are probably of mother
of pearl like similar inlaid panels of this date around the
apse at Parenzo. These panels at Parenzo are so much like
those of S. Sophia that we do not doubt they were sent
from Constantinople. There are very similar panels in the
baptistery at Ravenna.

Finally we have the enriched surfaces of the two ranges
of arcade spandrils. The upper row being sectile work of
coloured morsels put together to form a pattern of scrolls
and foliage, and the lower series having the surface entirely
sculptured with the exception of discs of precious substance
which are set in them.

This uttermost splendour is quiet and soft in its result.
The surface of course has not that mechanically even,
repellently smooth, painfully fitted appearance of modern
work. The planes are waved under the hand sawing, and
the face is smooth but hardly polished. The colour in
consequence, gray and russet rising to full yellow, green
and reds, veined, waved, and flowered in all manner
of gradations and lovely combinations, vibrates with a
wonderful " bloom " which doubtless owes much to age ;
but it is very probable that the marble was polished with
wax encaustic which was so generally used for finishing
surfaces by ancient workers. The wax deepens and mellows
the colour and leaves a dull pleasant polish. We suppose
the method followed was that recommended by Vitruvius
for the encaustic polishing of coloured stucco walls. " Lay
on with a brush a coat of melted Punic wax tempered with
oil ; then with a brazier of hot charcoal heat all the waxed
surface, forcing the wax to melt in an even way over the
whole surface ; finally rub the wall with a wax candle and
then polish it with a clean linen cloth just in the way the
nude marble statues are treated. This practice is called ydvwaa
by the Greeks." Felix Fabri, who travelled in Palestine at
the end of the fifteenth century, describes the rows of costly
columns at Bethlehem, " and they are polished with oil so
that a man can see his face in them as in a mirror."

In regard to the wall plating we wish especially to point

MARBLE MASONRY

247

out the extremely easy way in which it is applied, without
thought of disguise. The slabs of great size are placed
vertically, entirely the reverse of solid construction ; more-
over the slabs of the finer panels are opened out side by
side so that the veinings appear in symmetrical patterns.
At the angles the lap shows in the most open way ; while it
is mitred where restored. The best account of the actual
methods of fixing the marble slabs to walls by metal clamps
which notch into the edges of the sheet before the adjoining
one is fixed, is given by Professor Middleton, who figures
an example of the second century from Rome which might
belong to S. Sophia.

§ 4. MARBLE MASONRY.

After more than a thousand years of working marble
through one complete development, Greek builders, by
considering afresh the prime necessities of material, and
a rational system of craftsmanship, opened the great quarry
of ideas in constructive art which is exhaustless. In a
hundred years architecture became truly organic, features
that had become mere " vestiges " dropped away, and a new
style was complete ; one, not perhaps so completely winning
as some forms of Gothic, but the supremely logical building
art that has been.

If anywhere this vitalising had not been completed, it
would have been in the more decorative forms ; but here we
find no mere exercise in applying architectural orders, every-
thing is as real and fresh as in the structure. Having the
Corinthian and Ionic capitals before their eyes and without
forgetting or rejecting them, the Byzantine builders invented
and developed an entirely fresh group of capitals fitted in
the most perfect way for arched brick construction. As
Mr. Freeman has said {Hist. Essays, iii. p. 61) of the new
architecture : " The problem was to bring the arch and
column into union — in other words to teach the column
to support the arch." This was done by shaping the
block of marble which formed the capital so that a simple

248

Fig. 50. — Columns of
Great Order.

S. SOPHIA

transition from the square block to
the circle of the column was formed.
When they were sculptured, and most
of them are most elaborately sculp-
tured, the general form is not altered
but the carving enriches the surface
only. The new " Impost capital " is
found throughout the great cistern
generally known as that of Phil-
oxenus which is usually referred to the
time of Constantine. In their study
of the vaulted cisterns of Constanti-
nople Forchheimer and Strzygowski
have contributed much that is new to
our knowledge of the architecture of
the city and show that the evidence
is entirely against this theory, which
was propounded by Gyllius, whom
more recent writers have been content
to copy. This cistern, known to the
Turks as Bin Bir direk (thousand and
one columns), they identify with a
great cistern which the Paschal Chron-
icle says was built by Justinian in
528. We believe with them that
the architecture of the cistern agrees
entirely with what we might expect
as an outcome of the special circum-
stances in the time of the great building
era. "Bin Bir direk exhibits the
highest development of the art of
cistern building, and it thus in its
particular sphere resembles S. Sophia ;
like it the boldness of its construction
was never again equalled by the By-
zantines. It would be an explanation
of the bold achievement if it might
be assumed that Anthemius proved
his capability in this subterranean work

MARBLE MASONRY

249

Fig. 51. — Capital now Outside Porch at S. Sophia.

before he made his supreme effort in S. Sophia. Technical
features, however, make it seem probable that the builder was
an Alexandrine."

" It is of the widest significance for the history of Byzan-
tine art that here throughout the new 'impost capital' is
employed in its plainest constructive form. It seems not
improbable that the daring builder of the cistern was the
first to make use of this form of capital which completely
broke with classical tradition and is in such perfect
accord with the exigencies of arch-architecture." This is
to go too far ; for if the cistern is rightly referred to 528 it
is probable, as we shall show, that the impost capital had at
that time been for many years in use.

At S. Sophia the four main varieties of the new capital are
all found. In the cistern the change of form is made by

S. SOPHIA

FlG. 52. — Columns in Gallery.

rounding away the angles at
the bottom without reference
apparently to any geometrical
idea ; but in other capitals
which belong essentially to
this type the method seems
to have been that explained
in Fig. 53 which represents
the form of the caps of the
lamp pillars on the front of
the western gynaeceum. They
are most delicately carved
with a network of ornament,
but the general form is un-
disturbed as we have ex-
plained. The plain capitals
of the west window and the
isolated sculptured capital
Salzenberg found in the north
aisle are also of this form,
which we shall call the Im-
post Capital type I. The
profile can be made convex
or inflected, we are only
speaking of the simplest
method of changing the
form from a circle to a
square.

Two capitals now used as
mounting blocks outside the
east porch, which we illus-
trate (Fig. 51), furnish us
with a sculptured example of
a similar capital in two
stages of development, one
of them never having been
completed. We give here
an outline of the blocked
out capital, in which the

MARBLE MASONRY

251

Fig. 53. — Rudimentary Form of Capital. Type I.

method of work-
manship may be
plainly seen. First,
the block was cut
away below convexly
to meet the circular
shaft. In this state
it exactly resembles
the capitals of the
cistern. Secondly,
on this was marked
a border all round
the top ; also centre
lines running down each of the faces, about the centre point
of each of which a circle of about seven inches diameter
was drawn ; and at the bottom the width for the necking
was marked off. Thirdly, the intermediate spaces were
sunk about two inches ; the hollow of the abacus was
formed ; the necking, and edge of the circular discs were
rounded. This brings the capital to the stage shown in
the diagram, the point to be observed being that the abacus,
boss, and necking lie in one surface, first obtained, and
the rest in another face, sunk some two inches below the

former. It cannot
be doubted that the
style of these capi-
tals is contemporary
with the work at S.
Sophia, and the fin-
ished one bears a
monogram which
appears to read
6EOAC0POT; it is,
however, almost
identical with that
of Theodora, which
occurs on the capi-
tals of the interior.
MM. Curtis and

Fig. 54. — Rudimentary Form of Capital. Type II.

252

S. SOPHIA

Aristarches,1 who have written on these monograms, think
it belonged to a portico, restored in 409 by an eparch
called ^ Theodoros. Work of this style was not done at
that time, and these capitals possibly belonged to some of
the outer courts of the church mentioned by Procopius.
They resemble the great capitals so closely that they might
almost be preliminary studies. The strips which are left
down two sides of the capitals were customary in the capitals
of a Byzantine colonnade, especially where screens were
inserted between.

Fig. 55. — Rudimentary Form of Capital.

The two capitals in the loggia by the baptistery furnish
a well-defined variety of the impost capital. The square at
the top is here wrought into curves recalling the antique
abacus. These are gathered together into the circle of the
necking in a beautiful convex form which may be called the
Melon type II., see Fig. 54.

We give in Fig. 50 an outline of the whole column of the
great order in the interior of the church, and in Fig. 56 a
diagram of the blocking out of the capital. The columns

1 'EWrjv. $v\\. napap. 1 88 5, p. 10.

MARBLE MASONRY

253

here and throughout the great church being monoliths of
fine material, the supporting area is very small compared
to the area of the arch imposts, which are of brick sheeted
with marble. It will be seen that the projection is just
that required by the impost, which springs directly from the
outside edge.

Fig. 56. — Rudimentary Form of Capital. Type III.

The great capitals of S. Sophia are remarkable examples
of the evolution of beautiful forms on the mason's banker ;
the workman finding form in the stone block by the ap-
plication of practical methods. The lower half of the
capital is circular like the shaft, rising in a slightly swelling
curve of a bowl ; the upper part is square like the impost.
The basis of form is that of a bowl with a tile placed
above it, and is thus that of the Greek Doric. This

254- S. SOPHIA

type III. in which the circle does not pass by transition into
the square impost, but changes abruptly, we may call the
bowl and tile capital.

At S. Sophia the surface of the form obtained as shown
in the figure is wrought into crisp acanthus and palm
foliage ; and is in many places, especially at the tips of
the leafage and behind the monograms, entirely undercut.
The cutting being so sharp, and the shadows so deep, while
at the same time the general form wit'h its broad gradation
of light and shade is so little modified by surface modelling,
the^ effect is almost that of inlaying black on white. The
capitals of the columns standing in the aisles, and those of
the first floor ranged against the central area, are similar to
the great order, but simplified and reduced.

The columns of the aisles on the first floor have block
capitals, with small volutes below; Fig. 57 will make the
elementary form clear. This type IV. is really a Byzantine
Ionic. The dual columns of west gallery have a capital in
common, which is a variation of these, and the capitals of
atrium were also similar. One capital of the north gallery
is entirely different from all the rest, the block, not being
carved all over continuously, is broken up into several
horizontal lines of ornament.

For the capitals of the square pillars of ground floor,
and others to the windows, we must refer to Salzenberg ;
they are all of the simple block form delicately sculptured.

Salzenberg also figures two capitals, now on the
porphyry columns at the east porch. These are com-
paratively small, and may possibly have belonged to some
position in the interior of the church, such as Justinian's
first ambo. The form is that of a basket with four doves
perched on the rim, and crosses between. Doves associated
with crosses symbolized the Church. Now in St. Clemente
at Rome there are two capitals of this kind which belonged
to the ciborium, set up as the inscription shows while
Hormisdas was pope (514-523), they are figured by
Cattaneo, Fig. 7, who says they obviously were sculptured
by Greek chisels. It is thus extremely possible that ours
may have been late additions to the pre-Justinian church,

255

Fig. 57. — Rudimentary Form of Capital in Gynaeceum. Type IV.

where they also may have belonged to the ciborium.
Rohault de Fleury believed that this form of capital was
intended to represent an offerings basket.

To these Bird and Basket capitals, type V., may be added
varieties of the great class of derivatives from the Corinthian
of which this is in fact one. These were in general use
before the block type of capital was developed. We will
here only mention two of these acanthus capitals. Those in
which the leaves are set upright on the stem of the shaft we
will call Byzantine Corinthian and type VI. Those in
which the leaves turn over and bend round the capital we
will, with Mr. Ruskin, call "Wind-blown acanthus," and
type VII.

Distribution and Dates of Capitals. — We have referred
before to our belief that Constantinople was a marble
working centre from which sculptured marbles were dis-
persed to all parts of the Roman world. Having the chief
types of Byzantine capitals before us it will be convenient
to consider this more fully. We suppose that as white marble

256

S. SOPHIA

had to be bought in any case, the custom grew up of obtain-
ing the capitals fully wrought. Importation was, of course,
a general antique practice in regard to figure sculpture,
columns, and other objects of marble. Proconnesian marble
seems to have been the common stone of Constantinople so
that it is used for the columns and capitals of the cisterns.
We believe that careful examination of the capitals at
Ravenna, Parenzo, and other Byzantine centres will show
that they are in the main of this material. As to design
the capitals lying neglected about the city, together with
those in situ in the churches and cisterns, furnish a perfect
museum of the types with which others dispersed through
the whole area of the empire agree in the minutest particulars
of design and workmanship.

To take the types we have mentioned :

Impost Capital, I. — This capital is found with the surface
richly sculptured at S. Sergius. Capitals identical in form
and decoration with the isolated capital of S. Sophia
(Salz. PI. xx., fig. 8) are found at Parenzo and in
Jerusalem. The splendid examples of this type at S. Vitale,
Ravenna, are well known ; here the fretwork of sculpture is
almost entirely relieved from the ground. We found an
example absolutely similar at Constantinople. Mr. Ruskin's
" Lily Capital " which belongs to this group is found at
S. Mark's, at S. Vitale, at Parenzo, and at Alexandria.
Another variety is covered all over with horizontal bands of
zigzag fillets; an example rests in the Tchenli-Kiosk
Museum, others are found at Athens, at Mistra, and a
third now at S. Mark's is figured in the Stones of Venice.
The capitals at S. Sophia, Salonica, figured by Texier are
probably the earliest of type I. to which an approximate
date can be given ; it was certainly in general use at the end
of the fifth century.

Melon Form, II. — These magnificent eight-lobed capitals
form the great order at S. Sergius, and are found at the
church usually called Agia Theotokos. Similar capitals
belong to the upper order at S. Vitale, and others are found
at S. Mark's. Some of the nave columns of S. Demetrius
at Salonica have fine capitals of this type which although

MARBLE MASONRY 257

evidently derived from the last probably also originated in
the fifth century.

Bowl Type, III. — These, the great capitals of S. Sophia, seem
to have been especially designed for the metropolitan church :
the beautiful palm foliage, however, with which they are
sculptured is found again at Parenzo and on a capital in the
Ravenna museum said to have been brought from Pomposa.
The church at Parenzo was begun in 535.

Byzantine Ionic , IV. — These occur in their perfected form
of block capital fully sculptured in S. Sergius and at the palace
of Hormisdas in Constantinople, also in the upper order at S.
Sophia, Salonica. Examples are also found at Venice.

In their earlier form of transition from the " Ionic with a
plain dosseret " an immense number are found in the sub-
terranean structures of Constantinople. An example has been
found in Chalcis.1

Bird and Basket, V. — S. Sophia furnishes two examples, but
there is no proof that they originally belonged to the building.
Another example is in Cairo. That at S. Clemente, Rome, is
signed with the name of John Mercurius ; Piranesi figures a
capital of this kind from the Palazzo Mattei, bearing a
monogram which is indecipherable in his plate. Period, end
of fifth century and beginning of sixth.

Byzantine Corinthian type, VI. — These are of great variety ;
we will only mention one. In the portico of John Studius the
acanthus leaves are doubled, one leaf lying over and within
another, so that a double row of serrations is shown around
the margins (see figure in Salz.). Similar capitals are found
in S. Demetrius, Salonica, and at S. Mark's, Venice. This
particular form is probably nearly concurrent with the last,
possibly a little earlier.

IVind-blown Acanthus, VII, is represented at Constanti-
nople by two examples forming bases for the posts of a
wooden porch to a house near Gul Jami, and another is found
in the cistern usually called after Arcadius or Pulcheria.
Absolutely similar capitals are found in S. Sophia, Salonica
{circa 490) and one occurs at S. Demetrius. At Ravenna fine
examples are dated by bearing the monogram of Theodoric.

1 Mitthetlungen, etc., Arch. Inst. Athens, 1889, xiv. 286.

S. SOPHIA

Others at S. Apollinare in Classe resemble the last so closely
that we doubt their having been made specially for the church
built in 534-549. An example was found in Chalcis with
the Ionic capital just referred to and De Vogue figures one
from Syria. Period, say 425 to 525.

The seven most typical Byzantine orders were thus being
wrought concurrently at the end of the fifth century, and it
seems that the three last did not long outlast this century.
The others in their central types probably did not continue
in use much beyond the sixth century. After this time

somewhat coarse varieties
of Byzantine Corinthian,
or Type L, were mostly
used.

The evidence of the
original block in the fully
sculptured finished work
which we find in the most
characteristic examples of
the Byzantine capitals is
of primary importance in
all marble sculpture, and
differentiates the work of
the chisel from being a
mere stone model of a
clay model which is prac-
tically what most modern
sculpture has become. In
many of these capitals the vertical strip shown in Fig. 5 5 left
in the finished work furnishes a further suggestion of the
block from whence they were hewn.

Shafts and Bases. — The usual theory that the Byzantines
wrought but few new marble shafts does not bear scrutiny.
Byzantine shafts have neckings of very slight projection,
thus obviating the waste of labour and material of Roman
work.1 The shafts of the baptistery loggia at S. Sophia,

Mr. Brindley has shown us a photograph of a half worked Byzantine
column with a flat necking, still attached in a horizontal position to the
rock on its underside while the upper part is rounded.

Fig. 58. — Bronze Annulets of Columns.

MARBLE MASONRY

259

Fig. 59.— Marble Pedestals and Skirting Slabs.

figured by Salzenberg, furnish good examples ; sometimes
the necking, as to the square marble pillars, is a simple broad
fillet of about a quarter of an inch projection. The hundred
round shafts of S. Sophia exhibit a remarkable and beautiful
structural expedient by which the necking is entirely sup-
pressed, and bronze annulets surround the shaft under the
capital and above the base ; which prevent the shafts from
sliding or splitting, and retain the lead beds from being
forced out by the weight (see Choisy, p. 15). Large
monolithic shafts were the more apt to split, as they
had to be set up contrary to the direction of the quarry
strata.

Fig. 58 represents these bronze zones in association with
the great capitals and bases. The pedestals of the exedra
columns a next figure, are worked together with the bases

s 2

260

S. SOPHIA

Fig. 60. — Cornice Profiles.

in one stone. In these profiles we again see how little the
mouldings disturb the original form.

Responds. — A very remarkable feature in the interior, is
the way in which the colour of the marble columns of the
arcade is reflected as it were on the responds, where the
arches fall on the great square piers. A strip of porphyry
or verde antique, the width and height of the free shafts, is
inlaid into the marble casing of the piers absolutely flush,
the edge being only defined by a line of the notched fillet.
A flat sculptured slab at the top echoes the capital, and a
base slab of mouldings worked in a vertical plane ranges
with the bases of the columns. Salzenberg's plate does not
render this feature properly, the "capital" is flat and has
straight sides and instead of the " base " he shows a portion
of the wall skirting. Fig. 59 shows this base in elevation (B),
and section (C), ranging with the pedestals of the exedra,
Columns (A). The way in which the sculptured and
inlaid spandrils of the arcades stop against the plain veneer-
ing of the great piers is also most noteworthy.

Cornices and Skirtings. — We give here (Fig. 59, D and E)
two profiles of the skirtings where the principle of working
out of thin veneering-slabs is applied to moulded work.
The parapet slabs of first floor are worked in a very similar

MARBLE MASONRY

261

way ; Salzenberg shows design of front, and they bear flat
lozenges between two crosses at the back. See Fig. 61.

The cornices of the interior, which really formed walks
for the lamplighters, are made up of no regular combination
of curves ; they project steeply forward, the general
slanting plane being little disturbed (A, Fig. 60) ; they are
decorated with rows of acanthus, the curved tips of which
catch the light in bright points. The cornice of aisle is given
at B. We also give a profile of the door-head, which shows
how the mouldings conform to a plane of least labour (C).
By the jambs and heads being mitred together, the difficulty
of working stop ends was also obviated. The mouldings

Fig. 61. — Closures between Pillars, Front of Gynaeceum.

are not sharp and accurate, as is suggested by Salzenberg's
engravings.

We may mention here that all the doors entering the
church from the narthex have raised marble thresholds, that
of the Royal Door being a magnificent piece of verde
antique which rises some seven inches above the level of
the floor ; the others are of white marble.

Windows, &c. — The pierced lattices of the windows also
furnish examples of another beautiful method of marble slab
construction. The large windows are subdivided by marble
posts, between which the pierced lattices make a mere screen.
Salzenberg, who found a store-room full of broken fragments,
gives a section of a bar. Windows over the western entrances,

262

S. SOPHIA

FlG. 62. — Marble Window Lattice.

yi in

Willi

jIiJi

Fig. 63. — Cipollino Slabs with Cross.

and another at the foot of
the south-west stair, which
are similarly pierced out of
sheet marble, have a simple
meander carved on the bars
(Fig. 62); this we suppose
to be of the ninth or tenth
century. The lower part of
the window openings going
down to the floors are filled
with marble closures, some
of which bear flat sculp-
tured devices, such as a fish
in a lozenge, and on the
outside a cross ; above this
came a second tier of slabs
pierced with square open-
ings, which were possibly
covered by marble slabs as
opening casements.

Some of these closures
are translucent ; one in the
West Gallery over narthex
is the well-known " Shining
Window " which is men-
tioned by Grelot. These
transparent slabs of " Phen-
gites " were much used in
Byzantine architecture. The
transparent marble slab
windows of S. Miniato are
well known. At Ravenna
there is a sculptured slab
altarfront, through which
shone the light of candles
placed behind.

Placed against the east
side of the marble screen
now in south gynaeceum

MARBLE MASONRY

263

* f

are slabs of cipollino, which bear large crosses standing on
circles ; the relief being very slight and the edges softened
these show in the faintest way ; each cross extends over two
slabs, the joint being down the middle. A similar slab with
a cross is now placed in the opening on south side of

bema. These cross
slabs some seven feet
high are beautiful
examples of the
proper use of marble.

(Fig- 63.)

Carving. — Of the
carved ornament we
can only stay to re-
mark on the large
use made of the
drill in obtaining
points and chains of
sharp shadow : and

that in the design new motives and old — the acanthus and
the vine are found side by side, both equally alive. The
acanthus has been redrawn from the leaves which tracery
the stones along the shore ; and even the archaic lotus, for
centuries degraded into " egg and tongue," buds once again
into leaf.

Fig. 64. — Forms on Carved Impost Moulding.

CHAPTER XII

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS
§ |. BRONZE WORK.

One of the most interesting facts in connection with the
building is the lavish use of bronze in construction and
decoration. There is every reason to suppose that the bronze
casing of the Royal Doorway entering the church from the
narthex, was applied long subsequent to the building of the
church. We give in Fig. 65 a sketch of the bronze cornice
of this door, with its hooks for the door hangings ; the left
hand shows the form towards the narthex, the right hand the
interior. The deep-splayed casing of the cornice resembling
a sarcophagus may have suggested the story quoted by
Buzantios,1 that the body of S. Irene reposed above this
doorway. By comparing it with the adjoining marble door-
ways, it is apparent that the bronze must be laid over similar
marble forms, and that this deep-splayed casing simply covers
a marble cornice hacked back to one slanting face. Salzen-
berg gives a detail of the panel at the centre, and the
inscription has already been quoted. Such inscriptions were
general at the entering in of ancient churches. For instance,
a small church 2 in Palestine has the legend, " This is the gate
of the Lord, the righteous shall enter in thereat," and a
similar inscription is on the lintel of the early church
at Corfu.3 An isolated lintel at Constantinople has " Open

1 H. Ktovo-Tavru/ovjroAi?, p. 5°°-

2 Survey of Western Palestine, vol. iii., p. 357.

• 3 Walsh, A Residence at Constantinople, " Errata " to p. 80.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 265

Fig. 65. — Bronze Casing to Royal Doorway. Scale -eV

me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and
praise the Lord." Paulinus says that at the door of his
church at Nola was written, " Peace be to thee with peaceful
heart and pure, who comest within the secret place of
Christ."

In a paper on the inscriptions at S. Sophia, by C. G. Curtis
and S. Aristarches in the T ransactions of the Philological
Society 1 of Constantinople the authors point out that S.
Sophia was greatly injured by earthquake on the 25th of
October, 975, and restored six years afterwards, and say that
the form of the letters of the inscription suggests that it was
written at this time. Possibly an earthquake gave a very
sufficient reason for such a casing, by fracturing the great
marble lintel, but there appears to have been a whole series of
additions and alterations at this end of the church before this
period, and it might very well have been done at the same
time as the mosaic above it.

All the doors opening into or from the narthex, with one
exception, are cased in bronze on a wood foundation about five
inches thick, formed into panels. They are all hung in two
leaves, and the back edges against the frame are rounded con-
tinuing top and bottom as pivots on which they revolve. The
nine doors entering the church are comparatively plain, each
leaf being divided into three panels.

The central doors entering the narthex are two panels
high, each of which bore a large cross ; these were applied
separately, the upper one under a round arch on pilasters, and

1 'EWrjv. $tX. 2vAA. irapap., vol xvi., 1 885, p. 34.

266

S. SOPHIA

Fig. 66.— Central Bronze Door entering Narthex. Scale about three feet

to an inch.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 267

the lower beneath a gable also supported by pilasters. The
lower cross is planted on a rock, from which flow the four
rivers, symbol of the Gospel preached to the ends of the
earth. Part of a verse in the mosaic of the apse at Nola as
given by Paulinus makes this symbolism clear.

" Christ the rock.
Of all the church, the base of rock sustains
From which as living streams four fountains flow ;
The four evangelists, whose words are gone
Through every land."

The margins, framing the panel of this pair of doors, are
decorated with elliptical hollows and pairs of small rosettes
alternately (see Fig. 66).

The two doors right and left of this central door are less
in size ; here each leaf is again divided into two panels.
The top one has a relief of a chalice from which rises the
stem of a cross with crisp acanthus foliage on either side.
The lower panel has a large plain cross. These reliefs are
all applied to the panels, the crosses being made up of four
arms, which are separately inserted into a central boss. The
horizontal arms, and in many instances the whole crosses, have
been removed by the Mahommedans. The styles and rails of
these doors are inlaid with strap-like forms and gammidae in
silver, and engraved with a representation of a setting of gems
(see Fig. 67). These inlaid straps, with seal-like ends, exactly
repeat the forms found on door-hangings. See Fig. 13.
At S. Sophia the forms have certainly been taken from similar
veils. The large simplicity of the design of these beautiful
bronze doors suggests that they may be of Justinian's time.

The doors still further from the centre, right and left, that
is to say the two end doors of the five entering the narthex,
have each leaf divided into three panels. The top and
bottom panels are charged with crosses ; and the centre one,
which is smallest, bears an annular boss ; the styles are
studded with discs. The south door of narthex, and also
the end doors in the west wall of the nave are similar to these ;
the others in this wall, including the great central door from
the narthex, have the big panel in the centre and two smaller
ones with circular boss top and bottom (see Fig. 68).

268

S. SOPHIA

The outer doors of the porch at the south end of narthex
are still more remarkable. The panel margins are made up
of cast bronze decorated with meanders, frets, and leaf
mouldings, very delicately modelled in high relief. These
are evidently of antique workmanship, possibly they may be

as late as the fourth

century, but they can
hardly have been
wrought later. The
ancient doors have
been enlarged by add-
ing outer margins,
consisting of later re-
lief work, and flat
metal studded with
little leaf ornaments
which form the heads

r__ ill I ji ffl of pins. The panels

Si have been filled with
plates of bronze,
which bear an inscrip-
tion ingeniously made
up of monograms,
arranged on crosses in
circles ; these are
deeply engraved into
the metal plates and
filled with silver. It
is interesting to find
here an example of
the damascened work
of which some of the
doors in Italy brought
from Constantinople are such remarkable specimens.1 The
letters are beautifully designed, and in all cases the horizonal
arm of the cross is above the centre of the circle in which it
occurs.

Good engravings of these doors are given by Salzenberg,

1 See Bayet, V Art Byzantin.

FlG. 67. — Bronze Door of Narthex.

four feet to an inch.

Scale about

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 269

who however incorrectly transcribes and arranges the inscrip-
tion on the panels. Of this we here give a corrected version,
Fig. 69. (The top line in the figure is actually above the
right-hand monograms.)

The inscription has been deciphered in the previously
mentioned Transactions of the Greek Syllogos at Constanti-
nople.

[eeO())IAOV KAlJ MIX AHA NlKHTlON

KVPie BOHeei eeocfjiAco a€cttoth

eeoTOKe BOHeei eeoAWPA AVrovcTH

XPICT6 B0H96I MIXAHA AeCTTOTH

€TOVC ATTO-KTICeWC KOCMOV STMe IN A . A

(of Theophilus and) Michael Conquerors

(1) Lord, help (2) Theophilos Emperor

(3) Mother of God, help (4) Theodora Augusta

(5) Christ, help (6) Michael Emperor

(7) Year from the creation (8) of the world 6349. Ind. 4

The sixth and eighth monograms show evidence of
having been altered. The silver has been removed from
the earlier form, and the grooves having been filled up with
bronze fresh letters were inlaid : the lines stopped out
however show a different colour from the original ground,
and so the palimpsest can be read. The revision was made
" after the birth of Michael the first son of Theophilus
in 839 and his coronation in the year 840.1 Before this
time the monogram of John the patriarch, which may still
be traced, occupied the position of Michael's monogram:
and instead of 6349 Indiction 4, the date was 6347 Indiction
2, thus giving the year beginning September 838, when
John the Sixth was Patriarch of Constantinople." 2 The
inscription " Michael Conquerors " (which is formed by
piercing a bronze plate, not by damascening, as shown
by Salzenberg) occupies the top of the right-hand leaf of

1 a.m. 5508 of Byzantine chronology coincides with a.d. I up to
September 1st. Indictions were cycles of fifteen years commencing in
312 a.d. Both the years of the world and the Indictions began on
September 1st.

2 'EaA?7v. *iA.o\. %)\\. irapap., vol. xvi., p. 30.

270

S. SOPHIA

the door : that on the left corresponding to it is lost.
MM. Curtis and Aristarches have restored this as above.
The existing words, it is evident, must have been added after
Michael's birth and with the alteration of the monograms
probably form a memorial of his coronation. Murray s

Handbook 1893 sug-
gests that the word
Niketon refers to the
restoration of images;
but the revision of the
inscription was made
during the lifetime of
Theophilus, who was
the last of the icono-
clastic emperors. Ac-
cording to Muralt 1
Theophilus died Jan.
20 a.m. 6350 (842).
Just before, feeling
himself to be dying,
he made the empress
swear not to re-
establish images, and
not to depose the
patriarch John. Three
weeks however after
the emperor's death,
Methodius was named
patriarch. " The vic-
tory of the image-
Scale about worshippers was cele-
brated by the instal-
lation of the long-
banished pictures in S. Sophia on the 19th of February 842,
just thirty days after the death of Theophilus." 2 It is
almost certain that the conjectural restoration is correct for
Theophilus and Michael are thus associated in a mural

1 Essai sur la Chronologie Byzantine.

2 Finlay, vol. i., p. 165.

Fig. 68. — Bronze Doors in Narthex.

four feet to an inch.

272

S. SOPHIA

inscription1 and Niketes was a common title from Con-
stantine downwards. On the panels are certain pin-holes2
placed symmetrically between the monograms ; these must
have been for the attachment of reliefs.

The Anonymous author speaks of doors of " elektron "
and of silver dipped in gold, but we cannot rely on this
any more than on his 365 doors of ivory.

Electrum is incorrectly translated as amber in the last
edition of Murray s Guide (1893). Labarte pointed out
that enamel forms the right equivalent, and for this
interpretation he has ample authority. Theophilus, the
Byzantine writer on the arts, continually uses the word
for glass enamels, either set as separate jewels, or fused
as translucent enamels to a metal base. A note in the
English edition of this writer explains that this use of
the word was probably extended from amber to cover other
transparent bodies of similar appearance. From the lavish
way in which enamel was used about the tenth century
it is possible that some of the doors such as those in the
iconostasis might have been enamelled.

As to the " dipping " of silver or bronze with gold
the Silentiary tells us that Justinian " overlaid with gold "
the bronze zones of the columns ; and the annulets of the
porphyry columns at the east entrance still show gilding.
Buzantios 3 quotes from a MS. chemical treatise in the Paris
library which mentions " dipping bronze like the doors of S.
Sophia," and Fossati says the head of the Royal Door was gilt.

Theophilus explains in detail how bronze or silver might
be gilt by fire-gilding, the process here called dipping. The
copper in the bronze had to be pure and free from lead.
The gold was ground very fine and cooked with mercury.
This amalgam was then applied to the surface with a copper
bit, like that plumbers use in soldering, and polished with
a wire brush.

We have given sketches of the bronze collars which
surround the columns, at the junction of capital and shaft,

1 Mordtmann, p. 36. 2 Shown in Salzenberg's plate.

3 H. Kwi/(7TavTivov7roXi?, vol. i. p. 500

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 273

and just above the bases. The porphyry columns in the
two western exedras have many intermediate annulets at
unequal heights ; these in some cases were doubtless intended
to bind up longitudinal fractures in the shafts, which show
in many places ; but in other instances they appear to cover
the junction of separate drums of porphyry. These are all
shown in Grelot's interior view. The principal collars are
certainly of the time of Justinian ; those under the capitals
have square metal bosses or boxes covering the point where
they meet and are pinned together. These " seals " of
the great order bear the monograms of Justinian and
Theodora.

The annulets at the base are made continuous at the
joint, and have the appearance of being brazed : those of
the main order are now kept brightly polished. One of
the base annulets in the north gallery is signed by a mono-
gram as the work " of Stephen." 1

Besides the hooks, in the form of upturned fingers, for
the hangings at the bronze door, similar hooks occur in
the marble lintels of the doors in the narthex and the
exonarthex.

§ 2. — MOSAIC.

The mosaics of figures exposed at the time of Fossati's
repairs are many of them figured by Salzenberg, although
his harshly coloured diagrams can but very inadequately
represent the beauty of the originals. We give here his
descriptive text in a slightly condensed form as a basis for
our own remarks. Dethier 2 asserts that only a part of the
mosaics discovered were published by Salzenberg, and that
Fossati preserved others inedited in his portfolios.3

The mosaics are formed of glass of various colours cut
into small pieces and applied to the vaults with a cement.
The gold mosaic was made by laying leaf gold on the glass,
which was then covered by a thin film of glass to protect the
surface. Silver mosaic was made in the same way. The gold

1 Curtis, Broken Bits of Byz., part ii.

2 Le Bosphore et Constantinople, 1873.

3 See below, p. 287.

274

S. SOPHIA

was used, in spite of its apparent abundance, with great
economy. For instance, in vertical spaces high up and only
visible from almost immediately beneath, the tesserae are
arranged in horizontal rows at a distance of two or three
tesserae from each other with their upper edges projecting.
The projecting edge of the lower row hides the bare space
between it and the row above. There is thus a saving of
more than half the material, and great play of light is
obtained. The tympana of the aisles are covered in this
way. The coloured tesserae are set in the usual way, as the
difficulties involved by the other method in the curves of the
ornament would outweigh the saving of material.

Besides gold and silver, red, blue, and green are the
principal colours ; though others are used in the heads of the
figures. The vaulting throughout was covered with a back-
ground of gold, on which are conventional patterns that
follow the forms of the construction. Some of the spaces
have representations of figures.

In the bands of ornament are gamma-crosses [swastikas],
hearts, leaves, and crosses, placed in circles, squares, and
other figures. There are no sharp arrises to the vaults,
but patterned bands are placed on the rounded edges.

The vault of the narthex has its wide transverse bands
adorned with gamma-crosses. In the domed portions between
the transverse arches are diagonal bands which culminate in a
circle inclosing a cross.1

The vaults of the gynaeceum, perhaps because they were
visible from the nave, are more elaborate than those of
the aisles below.2 Salzenberg's Plate xxv. shows the
western dome on the south side, on which is represented the
descent of the Holy Spirit : the arches have the same
ornament as those below.3

Details of the dome are given in Salzenberg's Plate
xxvi. The edges of the ribs and window openings are

1 See Salz., plate xxiii. Fig. 2 is one of the tympana, the centre one
has figures : fig. 3 transverse arches ; fig. 5 soffite of a window.

2 Salzenberg's plate xxiv. gives details of the lower aisles.

3 Fig. 2 is the barrel vault near the window ; fig. 3 arches and vault
adjoining ; fig. 6 the intrados of the arches opening to the nave ; fig. 7
a pattern of the west gynaeceum.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS

covered with bands of ornament. The faces of the ribs
have alternate squares and crosses, which decrease in size
as they get higher. The central space has lost its figure
subject, but it is surrounded by a wide border.1 The sides of
the window openings are lined with silver mosaic. The lower
part of the dome is not decorated, as the projecting cornice
hides it from below.2

The edges of the exedra-conchs have bands similar to
those on the great arches, and the same pattern occurs again
on the edges of the eastern barrel vault, and the bema apse.3
The rest of the decoration of the surface of the apses has
disappeared.

Over the centre door from the narthex to the nave is repre-
sented Christ on a throne, holding a Gospel open at the words,
"I am the Light of the world : Peace be with you." A
monarch is prostrate before him, and in medallions on either
side are Mary the Intercessor, and Michael the Protector.4

The nimbus of Christ has three rays, and His hand blesses
in the Greek manner, by which the fingers represent the
initial and final letters of Jesus Christus. The undergarment
has broad gold stripes worked on it, and the lights are given
in silver ; it seems to be of silk, the upper garment appears
to be of a white woollen stuff.

The great western arch has a medallion of the Virgin at
the crown, and full lengths of Peter and Paul at the sides,
Peter on the south ; however, only a few remnants of these
figures are now left. The border which surrounds the
medallion of the Virgin has colours of the rainbow, the circle
of her halo is red ; the flesh colour is fair, and the eyes are
blue. The veil is blue, with a gold cross, and the cloak is also
blue. Under the veil is a kind of band round the head, like
that which the Spanish Jews of Constantinople wear ; it is of
a blue green colour with dark stripes ; the hair is not visible.
Her nimbus has three silver rays on a gold ground ; her hands

1 Plate xxvi., fig. 6.

2 See fig. 3 for this cornice, the band beneath, and the edges of the
great arches.

8 Fig- 7 gives the borders of the windows in semidomes.
4 Salz., plate xxvii.

T 2

276 S. SOPHIA

rest on the shoulders of the Child, whose right hand blesses,
while the left holds the book of the Gospel.

Peter's face is dark, the nimbus is blue, the garment is
bluish green, and the gold rod, surmounted by a cross, has
red and blue bands. He thus has the same insignia as the
St. Peter on the Ciborium Curtain, and it is this which, in
the mosaic, identifies the figure as Peter, for there is^ no
inscription. Porphyrogenitus, in his life of Basil, mentions
that when the western arch was restored the pictures of the
Virgin, and the Apostles Peter and Paul were placed there
by that emperor. The figure of Paul has an upper garment
of green with silver lights, and the undergarment is a
greenish yellow. The whole figure is about seventeen feet
high, but the head is wanting.1

On the large semicircular walls beneath the northern and
southern dome-arches are a number of figures in mosaic.
The seven arched recesses were filled with representations of
martyrs and bishops ; above, between the windows, were six
smaller figures of prophets, and a larger figure at each end.
At the height of the upper row of windows were probably
the archangels, but of these only the feet remain.

The figures that now exist are the following. In the
recesses on the south side, the second from the east is
Anthimos, Bishop of Nicomedia, martyred in 311 : in the
third is Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, martyred in 379-2

The fourth recess from the east has Gregory Theologos,
Patriarch of Constantinople from 378 to 383. The next
figure is Dionysius the Areopagite ; who was converted by
St. Paul, and became, tradition says, Bishop of Athens. In
the sixth recess is Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, who died in
330. This figure is partly destroyed. The seventh, is
Gregory, Bishop of Armenia, who died in 3 2 5. 3

The figure of Isaiah, which is to the east of the row of
windows, had been covered up (when Salzenberg^ made
his drawings), but it was described by Fossati as having an
undergarment of green with silver lights, and over it a cloak
of a white woollen stuff. The right hand pointed towards

1 Salz. xxxii., fig. 4. 2 Salz., plate xxviii.

3 Salz., plate xxix.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 277

the bema, and in the left was an open scroll with the
inscription, " Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son."
Under the figure was a monogram.1 Higher up again on
the same wall was the inscription : —

AIT ... . THCA0AN ATOT COc|)IAC
HP A .... TOYKE AKHP ATCON ....

The recesses of the north wall have no mosaics [see below,
p. 287.] _

At the height of the windows, the first figure beginning
from the east is Jeremiah.2 The undergarment has stripes
of blue and red, and the upper represents a russet-coloured
woollen stuff. The right hand blesses, the left has an open
roll [with the inscription shown in the plate, " This is our
God ; no other shall be compared to Him."].3

The figure between the first and second window is
probably Jonas, as AC still remains on the right side of the
head, and there is only room for three letters on the other
side. The undergarment is a greenish blue with silver
lights, and has broad red stripes. The nimbus is blue.

Over the head of this figure is found the remnant of an
inscription NTIAOC. This may have belonged to one of
the figures above, of which a sandaled foot and edge of a
garment alone remain. The foot does not stand upon green
earth, like the prophets below, and therefore probably
belonged to an angel. Only a part remains of the third
prophet from the east, which was inscribed Habakkuk.4

The mosaics on the soffite of the eastern arch were covered
before drawings were made. At the crown is a medallion
with a white ground. In this is a low throne of gold, with
two green cushions upon it ; over them is thrown a blue
cloth with a white hem, and upon that is placed a golden
book. Above is also a gold cross with three arms ; the
middle one is the longest, and at its intersection with the
upright member is a circle. On the south face of this

1 Reading KYPIE. 2 Sal?., plate xxx.

3 The figure of Jeremiah at S. Clemente, Rome, bears the same
inscription.

4 Salz., plate xxv., fig. 3.

278

S. SOPHIA

eastern arch is the figure of John the Baptist, with Jong
hair, and a brown shaggy garment ; his right hand blesses,
and his left holds a cross with three arms. Opposite, on the
north side is the Virgin, with uplifted hands in the attitude
of prayer. She has a white undergarment, bound with a
golden girdle, a red upper garment, and a veil of a green-
blue, with a gold hem. Under her is John Palaeologus,
who restored this part, and to whose time these figures and
designs certainly belong. The emperor wears a crown, with
strings of pearls on either side. He has a closely fitting
undergarment of gold, decorated with pearls and embroidery.
A magnificent cloak hangs down from the left shoulder, and
round the neck and breast is a kind of broad gorget richly
embroidered. In his right hand is a sceptre, and in his left
a roll.

The archangel on the south side of the bema vault 1 has
a globe in the left hand, and a staff in the right. He is clad
in white, with imperial red shoes. The arch of the apse bears
an inscription, which ends with the letters C6I6 TTAAIN.

On the conch of the apse is the Mother of God upon a
throne, holding the Child between her knees ; her upper
garment, which is blue, conceals the whole figure, except
that at the breast, under the arm, and above the feet, the
white and gold garment beneath is visible. The Child has
his right hand uplifted* and his left against his breast. He
wears a white garment, with a gold girdle. His hair falls
down freely, and the nimbus has three streams of light.
The throne is gold with red ornaments, but is without a
back, and the footstool is of green silk.

In the dome pendentives are Cherubim with six wings.
Each head is four feet two inches high. The upper feathers of
the wings are a light green, and the under feathers brown.2
The great centre-piece of the dome, which, according to
Du Cange, represented Christ as Judge of the World seated
upon a rainbow, no longer exists.

Only one of the domes of the gynaeceum preserves its
mosaic ornament of figures. This 3 represents the descent of

1 Salz., plate xxii. 2 salz., plate xxxi.

3 Salz., plate xxxi.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 279

the Holy Spirit. Only a part remains of the throne in the
centre ; on it is a green cushion, and a blue cloth with
gold patterns. Groups of spectators fill the pendentives
of the vault.

Above the doorway which leads from the western
gynaeceum to the chambers over the south porch, are
remains of figures, which can no longer be identified.1
In the ceiling of the chamber over the stairway is a design
of green tendrils on a gold ground.2

The small dome in the chamber which opens out of the
western buttress of the south side on the first-floor level
has four angels with uplifted hands, supporting a medallion
in the centre. This design is similar to that in the side
chapel at S. Prassede at Rome.

"The figure representations belong to the time of
Justinian, though the Silentiary, otherwise so accurate, does
not describe them."

First Scheme. — A reading of Salzenberg's notes on the
figure mosaics will show how little ground there was for
his impression that these belonged to the time of Justinian,
which the last sentence expresses. Several of these mosaics
are dated as being parts of restorations. Thus he shows
that Basil I. placed figures on the arch of the great western
hemicycle, and that those of the great eastern arch are the
work of Palaeologus.

The subject has been much obscured by insecure assump-
tions and inexact assertions. Labarte, who was one of the
first to doubt that Justinian was intended by the figure of the
kneeling emperor before Christ over the Royal Door, thought
that the Silentiary described figure-mosaics as covering the
interior.3 Gerspach in La Mosdique calls the emperor
* Justinian ' and appears to mistake the Pentecost cupola for
the great dome. In regard to the date of the lunette
containing the emperor, Labarte suggested that it was a
work of the seventh century, and that the emperor was
Heraclius.4 Woltmann and Woermann placed it still later

1 Salz., plate xxxi., fig. 7.
3 Arts Industriels.

2 Ibid, fig 8.

4 Hist, of Painting, vol. i., p. 234.

280

S. SOPHIA

and write, " There is no kind of resemblance between
the beardless portrait of Justinian at Ravenna and this
bearded, gray-headed man. It is more likely to be Basil I.
the restorer of the western apse, and this opinion is supported
by the miniatures of his time." The pilgrim Anthony seems
to refer to it as Leo the Wise, but the Russians ascribe so
many works to this emperor without reason that this is in-
conclusive. The forms of the letters in the inscriptions,
however, show that the mosaic is late. Bayet,1 who has
considered the mosaics afresh, and thinks the silence of
Paulus is conclusive as to the absence of figure-mosaics
when the poem was written, about 562, himself seems
to misread some parts of the poet's description ; thus
he thinks patterns in mosaic are intended in lines 607 — 612.
The animals of the atrium may possibly have been of glass
mosaic : but we think it more likely that inlaid marble
like the dolphins of the interior (Fig. 49) is intended. The
baskets of fruit, branches with birds, and the golden vine
in the church, spoken of in lines 668, &c. seem to refer to
the carved and gilt surfaces of the spandrils of the arcade,
not to the mosaic, as Bayet supposes.

The figure scheme, so far as it can be traced, closely
agrees with the Byzantine Manual of Painting : and the
subjects and treatments can be associated with work in other
churches of the ninth and tenth centuries which have in
several cases almost identical designs. Altogether it
may be doubted if a single figure belongs to a time anterior
to the iconoclastic period of the eighth century.

We believe the original scheme of decoration is best
accounted for without figures, and even if this were not
so, we can hardly believe that in the Patriarchal Church at
the door of the Palace figures would have lasted through
the reigns of the iconoclastic emperors and patriarchs,
as they may well have done in remoter churches where
the clergy were on the other side. Leo issued his first
decree against images in 726. Its purport was not, as is
often stated, that pictures should be hung higher in the
churches in order that people should not adore them

1 Recherches.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 281

Fig. 70. — Mosaic of small Vault Compartment next the Bema.

by kissing : " it commanded that they should be totally
abolished."1

It is well known that a figure of Christ over the entrance
to the palace was destroyed by Leo the Isaurian. Dr. Walsh,
who was chaplain to our embassy at the Porte about 1820,
writes, " There stood till very lately in Constantinople an
inscription over the gate of the palace called Chalces. Under
a large cross sculptured over the entrance to the palace were
the following words : —

" ' The emperor cannot endure that Christ should be
represented (graphes) a mute and lifeless image graven on
earthly materials. But Leo and his young son Constantine
have at their gates engraved the thrice-blessed representation
of the cross, the glory of believing monarchs.' " 2

1 Bury, vol. ii. 432.

2 R. Walsh, Essays on Ancient Coins, &c.y 1828, gives the Greek.

282

S. SOPHIA

In 768 Nicetas, the patriarch under Constantine, Leo's
son, is said to have destroyed " the images of gold mosaic
and wax encaustic " in all the churches of Constantinople.1
And in the life of Theophilus we read, " throughout every
church the figures of the saints were destroyed, and the forms
of beasts and birds were painted in their places." 2

It is quite certain from Procopius and the poem of the
Silentiary that the vaults of Justinian's church were covered
with mosaic. They both describe the brilliance of the gold
glittering surface, but do not mention any figures. In
such detailed descriptions this silence goes far to show that
there was originally no storied scheme of imagery, like that
which the Poet so fully traced out on the curtains and iconosta-
sis. It seems equally certain that where, describing the dome
on the strong arches, overhanging the interior like the
firmament which rests on air, he says, " at the highest point
was depicted {epigraphe) the cross, Protector of the City,"
we are to understand that a great cross in mosaic expanded
its arms on the zenith of the dome, and that the background
was strewn with stars. Now this is a well-known scheme,
and it is found at an earlier date in the chapel of Galla
Placidia at Ravenna, and later it is mentioned by Porphyro-
genitus in a description of a domed apartment in the palace.
The stars on the dome are more than once referred to in
the poem (page 36), and it is probable that the surfaces
between the ribs as well as the central circle had gold stars
set in azure, the ribs being of gold ; nothing less would
seem to justify "the firmament of the roof its rounded
expanse sprinkled with the stars of heaven."

It is evident that, however easily figures and pictures
might be added here and there at various dates, the church,
being once incrusted with mosaic, would at no subsequent
time have had the enormous areas of tesserae removed to
be again renewed.

It follows that the ground, and any patterns evenly
distributed in every part of the vaults, are assuredly of
the first work. First among such designs is a jewelled

1 American Journ. Archceol., iv. 143.

2 Theoph. Cont. ed. Bonn, p. 99.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 283

cross thirteen feet high, which is blazoned on both ground
floor and gallery vaults, and which must have been repeated
some twelve times twelve. We give an outline of one of
the smallest vault compartments in the church, the irregular
space to the east directly south of the bema : here three of
the crosses can still be seen through Fossati's colouring, their
interlocking arms spreading over the whole field. This form
of cross, with lobed ends, is found set in a circle of stars, in
the mosaic apsoid of S. Apollinaris in Classe. (Fig. 70.)

A similar argument applies to other forms which occur
with equal frequency. A square panel of ornament which
alternates with the crosses, certain diapers, the bands up
the edges of the aisle vaults, and the small circles each
containing the six-armed cross or monogram at the centre
of these compartments, would all seem to be parts of the
original work, and these simple elements we believe formed
the first scheme of decoration. Texier figures a mosaic
from Salonica made up of crosses. The splendid simplicity
of such a scheme seems entirely in harmony with S. Sophia,
for even figures would disturb the beauty of the expanse
which at each movement glitters like a web of golden mail
swayed by a breeze.

Later Mosaics. — For the mosaics displaying figures we
refer back to Salzenberg's description. Much further in-
formation might have been gathered if he had given copies
of the inscriptions which exist, in however incomplete a
state. His section (Plate x.) shows that a long inscription
surrounded the arch of the apse, but in his text he only
gives the last few letters C6I6 FTAAIN; this possibly belonged
to the words avearijo-eie iraXiv, " Set up again," and the
whole may have contained the name of the emperor under
whom this restoration was effected. (See below, p. 287.)

On the great lunette of the wall of the south side also,
where the tiers of saints and prophets seem a part of a
scheme representing the Church triumphant, or a Benedicite,
two monograms occur (see Salzenberg's Plate ix.) ; only
the first, which reads KYPI6, is figured in the text; it is
evidently a part of the well-known invocation, ' Lord, help,'
which requires the name of an emperor or artist to complete it.

284

S. SOPHIA

An inscription between these monograms is partly given
in the text ; and supposing it to be correctly rendered the
whole probably read " Lord, help " {name who painted this
wall) "of the Immortal Wisdom" (with the figures) "of
the saints ".

The entire later scheme of the mosaics must have
corresponded closely to that in the New Church in the
palace built by Basil, which is described by Porphyrogenitus.
Here, at the centre of the dome, was the human form of
Christ embracing the whole world in His regard ; below were
ranges of angels. In the apse was the figure of the Virgin

with arms uplifted in prayer,
" a choir of apostles, martyrs,
prophets and patriarchs filled
the other spaces of the whole
church." This in turn re-
sembles very closely the icono-
graphy at S. Luke's.

The following instances may
be given of the agreement of
the mosaics at S. Sophia with
the instructions of the Painter's
Manual. For example, it directs
that over the door of entrance
from the narthex Christ be
represented throned, holding
the Gospel open at the words, " I am the Door : by me, if
any man enter in, he shall be saved." At each side the
Virgin and the Prodromos are to be represented. The figure
to Christ's left at S. Sophia, called Michael by Salzenberg,
Grelot tells us was the Prodromos and he probably followed
the traditional ascription, although the type seems to agree
better with an archangel.

Again, " Inside the Sanctuary at the centre of the vaults
draw the Virgin seated on a throne holding Christ as a
little child." 1 This exactly describes the apsoid mosaic at
S. Sophia. The cupola of the gynaeceum, representing the

1 A composition of this kind at Parenzo appears to go up to the sixth
or seventh century.

Fig. 71. — Restoration of Throne at
Crown of Pentecost Dome.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 285

descent of the Holy Spirit, is also in close agreement with
the directions given in the Manual : — " The Holy Spirit
is seen in the form of a dove, twelve tongues of fire go out
from it and rest on the apostles." This subject is treated
at S. Luke's in a manner almost identical to that at S.
Sophia, and it is also found in a dome at S. Mark's.

Diehl in his examination of the mosaics at S. Luke's
has pointed out that the central circle of the Pentecost
cupola at S. Sophia as shown by Salzenberg in Plate xxxi.
is quite insufficient to have contained the figure of Christ
as shown in the restoration given on Plate xxvi., and that
consequently the Holy Spirit as a Dove really occupied this
position as at S. Luke's. In Fig. 71 we give an amended
restoration of this centre ; it will be seen from Salzenberg's
text that he had no evidence for a figure. The two angels
above the sanctuary are described by Salzenberg as bearing
lances or banner poles ; these were doubtless surmounted

atioc

by Flabella bearing the words ATIOC as at S. Luke's and

ATIOC

Nicaea.1 There is a very similar angel holding a flabellum
of this kind in the tenth century Menologium ; and the words
Holy, Holy, Holy, are directed to be put on flabella in the
manual.

Again the Manual says, " At the summit of these vaults
(opening from the dome) draw the holy Veil to the east
and opposite to it the holy Cup." Now in Grelot's view
of the interior, made when many of the mosaics were still
visible, he shows a large square mosaic at the crown of
the bema vault directly over the altar, which he says was
"the picture of Christ's face upon a napkin called Veronica."

The representation of the throne at the centre of the
soffite of the eastern arch (see p. 277) is one of the most
beautiful symbolisms of Byzantine art. At Nicaea the same
design occurs in a similar position on the triumphal arch,
and it is inscribed ETO! MAG A TOV 6PONOV. This
" Preparation of the throne " referred to the second coming
of Christ. Our figure represents a throne of this kind
1 See Diehl in Byz. Zeits., 1893.

286

S. SOPHIA

which we offer as an illustration of that at S. Sophia ; it is
based on a throne inscribed H ETHMACIA which appears
on the cover of a Byzantine Gospel book at S. Mark's.1
The small dome of the little chapel on the first floor,
Salzenberg says, resembles a dome at S. Prassede. The
latter is a work of the ninth century.2

Salzenberg's description seems to account for all the
figured mosaics ' mentioned by Grelot (1680) except the
"Veronica over the sanctuary." When Grelot made his
drawing there was no figure at the crown of the dome but
only the bands rising to the central wreath. Clavijo how-
ever writes, " The vault of the
square is covered with very
rich mosaic work, and in the
middle of the vault high over
the great altar the image of
God the Father very large is
wrought in mosaics of many
colours ; but it is so high up
that it only looks the size of
a man or a little larger though
really it is so big that it
measures three palmos between
the eyes." This must be the
Pantocrator of the Manual —
" draw near the summit of the
cupola a circle of different colours like a rainbow seen on
clouds in rainy weather. In the centre represent Christ with
the Gospel and this inscription, Jesus Christ, the Almighty."

Since the above has been in type we have found a pamphlet
published by the brothers Fossati in 1890,3 describing a col-
lection of drawings of S. Sophia, shown by them at Milan.
From this we gather the following additional particulars of
the mosaic subjects. — Over the door of the south porch " was
a remarkable mosaic representing the Virgin and Child, to
whom Justinian presents the Church and Constantine the
City." — A representation of Christ, the Virgin, and S. John,

1 // Tesoro. 2 Pcrate, Archeol. Chr'etienne, with figure, p. 265.

3 Relievi storico artistici sulla architcttura Bizantina.

Fig. 72.— Restoration Throne at
Crown of Great E. Arch.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS

287

forming the Trimorphion (Pantocrator, Pantochrante, Pante-
popte.) — Two groups of the Fathers of the Church, thirteen
altogether : Ignatius Oneos, Methodius, Ignatius Theophorus,
Gregory Thaumaturgus, John Chrysostom, Cyril, and Atha-
nasius. [These must occupy the seven recesses on the north
window-wall, as the six others agree with those given by
Salzenberg on the south side]. — The Pantocrator on a throne
[? supposed centre of Pentecost dome]. — John Palaeologus
[?with the Virgin on north side of great east arch, p. 278]. —
John Comnenus and Irene with the Virgin between them. —
Constantine XL and Zoe with Christ between them. —
Alexius Comnenus X. or XI. — Alexander, the brother of
Leo [some of these also were doubtless on the great east
and west arches]. — Three Virgins. — S. John with six apostles
surrounded by cherubim [? in higher part of one of the
window-walls, p. 277]. — Prophets [? of window-wall, p. 276].
— A circle with colossal Pantocrator [? the destroyed centre
of the great dome]. — Different emblems with Greek and
Latin descriptions. Besides these, a drawing of Cherubim
" saved from the Atrium Portico " is mentioned ; and the
inscription on the arch in front of the apse is given as
follows, and may be compared with Salzenberg's Plate x. : —

HIANIPCEIAP HPAN9EOHAPIHAP QECICHNANEAICEIE

TTAPIN.

The earliest description of the mosaics entering into any
particulars is that of Dr. Covel's MS. 1 670-7 in the British
Museum. " In those cupolas [of gynaeceum] are imagery of
Saints and the story of the Bible which the Turks have in
many places quite defaced and plastered them all over ; in
other places only scratched out or disfigured their faces as
the cherubims in the corners under the great dome." He
then enters into details of the pentecost dome which was the
only figured vault entire ; and then describes mosaics in the
western gallery not otherwise mentioned. " In the sides of
the second window [from the south], is Christ coming up
from Jordan and the Descent of the Holy Ghost with these
words, Matt, iii., 17 : — OTTOCeCTIN, &c, on one side and
over against it, Christ between Moses and Elias with these

288

S. SOPHIA

words, Matt, xvii., 5 : — OTTOC, &e." The window jambs
of the western gallery are now plastered, it is probable that
a series of mosaics of the life of Christ covered them. Up
to 1840 every visitor seems to have been offered tesserae,
which for better assurance were broken out before his eyes.
The Italian MS. of 1 6 1 1 also in the British Museum
(Harl. 3408), after saying that the walls of the church

were lined with
marble adds,
" the porch as
well, -except
that this is all
worked in mo-
saic with grow-
ing leaves of
great beauty
down to the
pavement of
the porch." 1

Signor Boni
has noticed
that some of
the gold tes-
serae at Pa-
renzo are in-
serted at an
angle of 300 to
the plane of the

Fig. 73. — Mosaic Tesserae, actual size. wall, SO as to

be normal to

the line of vision, just as Salzenberg describes at S. Sophia ;
the same thing occurs at the Dome of the Rock. This,
besides saving the material, aided in flashing the light, a
property of the gold tesserae which was much valued, as
several inscriptions from the mosaics show.2 In S. Maria
in Domnica, the apse — " Nunc rutilat jugiter varus decorata
metallis" again in S. Maria in Trastevere the vault " divini

1 See note above the index.

2 // Duomo di Parenzo, p. 26.

□a
odd

QDOD
□ODE]

DDao

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 289

rutilat fulgore decor is" and at S. Paulo fuori le Mura the
mosaic — "fulget fulgente decore."

We have examined a handful of gold tesserae from S. Sophia
through the kindness of Mr. James Powell. The cubes
average a quarter of an inch in size, the glass is yellowish,
slightly amethyst or dark green. The surface layer equals
stout paper in thickness. At the back of the tesserae a
dusty red appears, which under a glass proves to be of
powdered tile. This roughens and adheres to the surface
of the glass, which was evidently sanded with the powder
while in a molten state, and of course before it was broken
into morsels. The first purpose of this without doubt was
to increase the hold of the cubes to the cementing material,
but the reddening — almost like a coat of vermilion paint —
may probably have assisted the gold to show out better than
if the tesserae had been fixed without it into the perfectly
white stucco which forms the bed. The cementing material
was an inch or more in thickness, formed of lime with broken
reed for binding, and a considerable amount of crushed white
marble, in the part next the mosaic at least.

§ 3. GLASS, PLASTER AND PAINTING.

The Romans probably largely used coloured glass for
windows. The lattices were sometimes bronze or thin slabs of
marble pierced into a pattern.1 Sidonius (f 484), describing
the basilica of Tours, clearly mentions the patterned windows
of green and sapphire glass.2 It has been suggested that some
of the windows at S. Sophia were filled with glass of brilliant
colour. Theophilus, in his preface to the section of his work
dealing with coloured glass, says, " I have approached the
atrium of Holy Sophia, and beheld the chancel filled with every
variety of divers colours." He proceeds to describe windows
of painted glass in which the pieces are united by leads :
but assuredly, if coloured windows did exist in the apse of
S. Sophia, the glass was inserted in pierced marble, like

1 Middleton, Jnc.Rome, i. 31.

2 See Labarte, Arts Indust., vol. iii., p. 331.

290

S. SOPHIA

the plaster lattices of the Orientals. Beautiful windows of
brilliant-hued glass exist in the mosques and turbehs. The
Arab lattices show us what beautiful mosaics of jewels may
be formed in this way ; the singular charm of them is the
spreading and blending of the colours, by reflection from the
sides of the thick dividing bars ; lumps of crystal seem to
have been used occasionally in place of glass. Most beauti-
ful ' braided ' Byzantine lattices of marble are to be found
at S. Mark's which would be well characterised as Qvpai
SeSttcTvo/j,evac which according to Lenoir was the name of
these windows. If coloured glass was used in S. Sophia,
we think it can only have been in small windows of this
kind in the apse and conchs. Labarte thought, from the
descriptions of Procopius and Paulus, that the windows were
of white glass which allowed the rays of the sun to shine
through unaltered. It is hardly possible to conceive of the
great windows being of anything else than white glass.

A fragment of " ancient crystalline " glass from S. Sophia
was exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries in 1876. It is
described as only "one sixteenth of an inch thick, and
nearly colourless except for iridescence."

Grelot remarked that the plain glazing was " of round
panes set in plaster," but this must refer to the gradual
filling round of the panes by repairs, as may at present be
seen in the baptistery windows ; although circular panes in
a plaster setting were much used in Byzantine work, the
glass being spun in separate discs of slightly varying sizes
was inserted in marble or plaster slabs in different com-
binations. Windows of this kind remained in the apse of
the Theotokos church twenty years ago. Dr. Covel is
precise as to S. Sophia in 1676; he says the windows were
a cut out of entire stone into quarries exactly square," 10
by 12 or 14 inches. "In the first window of the west
gallery (coming in on the south side), are several pieces of
white transparent stone which I take to be Indian alabaster."

Modelled stucco work was much used by late Greek,
Roman, and Byzantine builders. Paulinus tells us that
at Nola " a cornice of gypsum " separated the mosaic and

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS

291

Fig. 74. — Plaster Friezes of Gynaeceum.

marble of the apse. A large number of examples from the
fourth to the sixth century are found in Rome, Parenzo,
and Ravenna. "About the middle of the fifth century
Galla Placidia built the church of S. Croce in Ravenna
* of very precious stones, and with stucco (gypsea) modelled
with the tool' (Agnellus. Lib. Pontif. i. 283). Decorative
stuccoes in the apse of S. Ambrose at Milan were destroyed
thirty years ago, as they were supposed to be ' Baroque.'
Dartein analysed the material and found that it contained
85 per cent, of plaster (gesso), a little lime, sand and brick-
dust or pozzolana." "The rich decoration of the Chapel of
S. Maria at Cividale (eighth to tenth century), and the Arab-
Norman modelled stuccoes of Sicily show that the traditions
of this kind of ornament were not lost at a later time." 1
In the churches of Greece this material is largely used, and
its application in Arab work was due to Byzantine example.
At S. Sophia an ornamental plaster frieze runs along both
sides of the south porch : this is a scroll throwing out
acanthus leaves and fruits like poppy seed-vessels. The
background is coloured blue.

The flat frieze-like cornice of the first floor ornamented
with two patterns of leafage appears to us to be of stucco ;
we figure these here, but we have not been able to
verify the material. If of stucco, as we suppose, it is cast
or stamped in small square panels as shown : certainly some of
the Byzantine plaster-work, as for instance that forming the
cornice of the apse at S. Apollinare in Classe, was cast in
short sections and then applied.

1 Boni, // Duomo di Parenzo, pp. 4, 5.

U 2

292

S. SOPHIA

The blue background of the plastered frieze just men-
tioned may remind us of the decoration of the beam above
the columns of the ambo with gold ivy leaves on a back-
ground coloured ultramarine as described by the poet.
(The spade-like leaves which occur in several places in the
mosaic must be ivy.) This decoration of gold and
" sapphire " seems to have been general in Byzantine work.
The sculptured beam of the iconostasis at St. Luke's has the
blue background nearly intact, and here and there the gold
is visible (Diehl, p. 26).

Traces of the blue ground may also be noticed in the
sculptures of Mone tes Choras at Constantinople. The
notched fillet, which separates the marble panels in S. Sophia,
is used so extensively at Venice that Mr. Ruskin called it
the Venetian dentil ; the complete intention of this fillet,
he writes, is now only to be seen in pictures, " for like most
of the rest of the mouldings of Venetian buildings it was
always either gilded or painted — often both, gold being laid
on the faces of the dentils and the recesses coloured
alternately red and blue."1 It is clear from Paulus that at
S. Sophia the sculptured capitals were all gilt (Part II., lines
129 and 244), as apparently were also the carved surfaces
filling the spandrils of the lower arcade (line 236). The
red colouring which Salzenberg notices was probably the
preparation for the gold. It is thus almost certain that the
notched fillets and carved frames of white marble surround-
ing the marble wall panels were gilt, as the Anonymous says,
and coloured, thus reflecting as it were from the wall
surfaces the brighter hues of the mosaic vaults.

4. MONOGRAMS AND INSCRIPTIONS.

The poet Paulus speaks of the iconostasis as bearing the
names of the emperor and empress, combined in a monogram
— " one letter that means many words."

Such ciphers or monograms had been in use for some
centuries, and at the end of the fifth century they were used
as signatures in discs left in the capitals. They appear at

1 Stones of Venice, L, xxiii., 13.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 293

E A

S T

V Jy

- U

"^4 iu\ ( mJ*t s5n -

x \5B/ 0

:(j^)^S)r

V/ E

S T

Fig. 75. — Monograms on Capitals of Nave.

294

S. SOPHIA

Ravenna in the time of Theodoric ; and, in Constantinople,
S. Sophia, S. Sergius, and S. Irene display similar ciphers of
Justinian. At S. Sophia almost every capital is charged with
two monograms which are carved on the bosses on opposite
sides of the capitals. The background is entirely hollowed
away, and the monograms show sharp and clear in the nest-
like cup which is held by the serrated edges of the acanthus
leafage. There are four or five main varieties of which
Salzenberg somewhat inaccurately figures two without offer-
ing any explanation. The first type appears on two or three
of the coins of Justinian, of which we have figured an ex-
ample at large on the title-page, and in these instances they
have been deciphered by Sabatier as the monogram of that
emperor. A ceramic inscription given in the Revue Arch'eo-
ogique for 1876, repeats the same form. We had made out
that the second variety was probably the word Basileos, when,
at Constantinople, we were referred to the paper by Canon
Curtis and M. Aristarches.1 In this article the monograms
are classified according to their main types and the whole
series is figured. Although the figures are small, this is a
thoroughly good piece of work, in the result obtaining many
pairs reading Justinian, Basileos, other pairs with Theodora
Augusta, and one with a date.

The capitals of the sixteen great columns of the nave, the
capitals of the lower side aisles — with the exception of those
on the eight square columns, — and the thirty-six columns on
the floor above, which screen the side gynaecea from the
nave, bear monograms. We were fortunately able to
examine and draw all of them, but give in Fig. 75 only
those on the back and front of the sixteen great columns of
the nave. They occur in the order in which they are placed
on the illustration from the first column on the left (north)
side on entering at the west, to the corresponding one on the
south side.2 Many of those monograms, especially those of

1 'EAA.T71/. <£>i\. %v\\. irapap., vol. xvi., 1 885, p. 1 3.

2 In our illustration the same capital is distinguished by a letter, the
two sides by 1 and 2, the monograms reading in the direction of the
reference to their position. Those of " N. Aisle " for instance read from
left side of page.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 295

the galleries, bear evidence of having been restored. We
may recollect that the capitals were said to have been
restored by Romanus (p. 123). It is possible that Fossati
tampered with them; the Italian MS. of 161 1 in the
British Museum states that " the Turks have destroyed some
figures which were anciently carved {intagliarsi) on the
capitals."

There are fifty-six examples on the capitals which Curtis
and Aristarches give as being monograms of Justinian ; in
all these the letter N forms the main lines, to which addi-
tions are made, so that the letters IOVCTINI ANOV can be
traced out. Some of these have crosses in addition.

The next monogram is that read BACIAEUK. It occurs
in all on fifty-five columns, the examples of it in our
illustration are b.i, e.2, h.i, p.i, c.2, p.i, g.2, j.2, l.2, n.2,
0.2, the remnant of k.i, shows that this was similar. This
monogram is found also on the capitals of S. Sergius and
Bacchus, and on three beautiful Basket Capitals at S. Mark's.1

Several of the fifty-six, classed together as Justinian,
furnish varieties from the clearest typical form. In some a
letter appears which may be read either as E or B, also an 0)
and a sign of contraction : see m.i and 0.1 ; possibly this is
a combination of Justinian and Basileos or only a variant
spelling : this form occurs in the church of S. Sergius as well
as at S. Sophia.

On twelve capitals is carved the monogram GEO AU3P AC.
This is either designed on the cross form as b.2 f.i, another
in the side aisles, and three in the gynaeceum above, or else
as in e.2 it approximates to Basileos. Two of this latter
type also occur in S. Sergius, which shows how early Justin-
ian associated his wife with him in his architectural labours.

1 Two varieties of monograms on capitals at S. Mark's have been the
subject of much study which Cattaneo sums up in Boito's text of the
great monograph on S. Mark's, but they have never been deciphered. One
(see Photos, vol. ii., p. 127) is a perfect example of Justinian ; three
which show in capitals of the upper stage south side are perfect examples
of Basileos— if corresponding monograms probably on the hidden sides or
these capitals are examined, they too may be found to contain the
Justinian monogram. For monograms at S. Sergius see Byz. Zeit. tor
1894.

296

S, SOPHIA

Finally from S. Sophia, and from there only, we have
twelve examples of AVroVCT AC. Typical ones are shown in
g.i, and a.i— a. 2 ; possibly some of these, as a.i, may have
been read Augustus, if any care was taken in their distribution.
The letters on the last capital q.i have been read by Curtis
and Aristarches as FMBB. They take F to be a capital
form of the obsolete letter which is used for 6 or 6,000,
M is as usual 40, and B is 2. Hence they get 6042 for
the year of the world. The lower B is then explained as
the year of an Indiction, reading it as IB, or 12. One
Indiction period of fifteen years would have ended in
522 a.d., and the twelfth year from that would be 534 a.d.
equalling 6042 a.m. Therefore this gives a date, two
years after the church was begun, when they suggest that
this capital was put in its place. This ingenious explanation
requires too much adjustment for it to be conclusive, and
the F form is at least unusual. This monogram looks very
white, as if it had been made up in plaster ; if we were
assured as to how much is ancient we might perhaps, if it
proved different from the others, find here the inserted
monogram of a later emperor who made repairs.

Salzenberg gives some monogram signatures from the
closures under the great west window, which are carefully
carved and entirely different from rough masons' marks,
although some of the forms occur amongst those. We
were unable to examine them, and taking Salzenberg's
representation, we can only suggest that they may be the
signatures of master-workers ; one appears to be Phocas.

M. Choisy1 has investigated the masons' marks of S.
Sophia ; besides the ordinary signs, he makes out a system
of numbering in the pavement slabs of the galleries.

Strzygowski 2 pursues the subject of Byzantine marks in
general, much further. He points out the same signs on
the columns of S. Vitale, of Pomposa, and of Parenzo, and
in the cistern Bin-Bir-direk at Constantinople. From this
we gather that not only « the columns of Ravenna, but also
the similar architectural features of Constantinople, Salonica,

1 In V Art de Bdtir and Revue Jrcheologique, 1876.

2 Die Wasserbeh'dlter von Konstantinopel, p. 245.

BRONZE, MOSAICS, INSCRIPTIONS 297

Parenzo, in fact along the whole coast of the Mediterranean "
were taken from the quarries of Proconnesus, and in the
lettering on the different members we can recognise the
working signs of the quarrymen or masons belonging to the
guild, which sprang into existence there at the founding of
New Rome, and which even as early as the end of the fourth
century was exporting to the islands of the iEgean.

A few other inscriptions on the marble may be briefly
noticed. On the inner border of the marble parapet of the
north gallery is scratched, " Place of the most noble
Patrician Lady Theodora," ending with an abbreviation
that may mean S. Sophia,1 and again on a panel of the
parapet of the north gallery at the west end is seen,
" Timothy, keeper of the vessels." Coteler in his Monu-
menta Ecclesiae Graecae finds mention of one Timothy, who
was skeuophylax of the Great Church at the time of the
Monothelite heresies about 622. 2

On a column in the southern gynaeceum occurs the word
Teodorus, but the fact that it is spelt with the Latin T and
D proves it to have been written during the Western supre-
macy, 1 204-1 261.

In the south gallery is a slab forming a part of the
paving ; " marks in the face of which seem to suggest that
a railing inclosed the space within which a sarcophagus used
to stand, supported by pillars." This is inscribed with the
name of the blind Doge who led the Venetians against Con-
stantinople in 1204, and died the following year, " Henricus
Dandolo."

1 Curtis, Broken Bits of Byzantium, pt. ii.

2 'EAA. <&i\. %)\\. 7rapap.t vol. xvi. p. 29.

NOTE

The following additional inscription from the mosaics
is given in Clarke's 'Travels (1812). It was taken, he says,
in one place, " from the ceiling of the dome," but in
another place he seems to associate it with the eastward
semidomes : —

OCKAIXPYCOY
TTEIMTHKONTA
TAAANTA6E0K
. . N . . . OICNE
. EKEI

INDEX

Abdul Mesjid, restoration by, 148
Acacius, S., church of, 129
Acanthus, 46, 166, 167, 254, 257,

261, 263
Acropolis, 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 12, 17
Additions to church, 154, 155
Adoration of Cross, 98
Agathias (6th c), 3°, 33, J59' 2°4*

212, 214
Agatho the Deacon, 182
Agora of Milion, 179, 1S1
Aisles, 27, 43, 44, 151 ; lamps in,

51 ; marble, 1 7 1, 243 ; mosaics,

247 ; vaulting, 160, 220, 221
Aix, 116, 192
Akoimetoi lamps, 118
Alexandria, 6, 249 ; capital of S.

Mark's at, 255
Alexius, S., 181

„ Comnenus (1081), 100, 105,

181

Altar, 16, 29, 48, 68, 69, IOO ; cross
placed on, 92 ; cloth, 7 1. See
also Holy Table

Ambo, 18, 29, 53, 57, 94, 98, 124,
130, 139, 140 ; candelabra round,
in, 118; singers in, 79, 104;
coronations in, 61, 63

Amiens, Knight of ; see Robert de
Clari

Amurath III., 127

Anastasia, S., church of, 21

Anastasius, 116, 117, 119

Ancyra, church at, 203

Andreossy, 232

Andronicus, S., 129

„ Palaeologus, 124, 152

Anemodulion, 178

Anna Comnena (12th c), 183, 186

Anna, Empress, 124

Annulets round shafts, 259, 273

Anonymous Author (12th c. ?), 24,
26, 28, 30, 36, 43, 204, 248, 270

Anthemius, 24, 26, 28, 30, 36, 43,
204, 248, 270

Anthony of Novgorod ; see Nov-
gorod

Antioch, 6, 17, 44, 18 1, 203

Jntux, 37, 41, 43, 4 5. 47> 49> 57
Apollinaris, S., 258, 283
Apostles, church of, 14, 15, 18, 74,
85, 205

Apse, 19, 22, 24, 29, 32, 37, 67, 69,

132, 150, 216
Apsides, 25, 28, 30, 41, 43, 133, 180,

182

Apsoid, 22, 25, 209, 210

Arcadius (395), 16, 180 ; baths of

II; cistern, 257
Arch, 210, 213 ; western restored,

123 ; forms, 220
Architraves, marble, 138; bronze,

264

Arculf (7th c), 92> 95> 98
Ark of Noah, 109, 138, 147
Arrises of vaults, 244
Arsenius, 86, 109, 124
Asbestos, 27, 132, 136, 231
Athos, Mt., 98, 115, 118, 119, 189,
227

3°o

INDEX

Atrax, marble, 45, 236

Atrium, 18, 44, 122, 148, 152, 182,

185, 191, 215 ; capitals of, 166
Attaliotas (1 ith c), 67
Augusteum, 4" 9, 10, 12, 20, 141,

H6> 173. r78, 180, 184, 186;
steps of, 6 5, 95
Auk, 44, 45j 188

Baalbec, 201

Baldwin, I., 124; II., 100

Banduri, 7, 10, 175, 190

Baptism of Christ, 44, 106, 183 ;

of Emperors, 110, 183
Baptistery, 18, 19, 20, 81, 106, 132,

152, 155, 183, 209, 217
Barley in concrete, 132
Base of dome, 210, 214
Bases, 165, 258, 260
Basil, S., 131, 143, 276 ; I. Emperor

(867), hi, 123, 175, 182, 279 ;

church built by, 68, 70, 90, 143,

189

Basil II. (976), 89 ; see under Meno-
logium

Beams with lamps, 50, 1 1 1

Beautiful Gate, 67, 95, 182

Belfry, 122, 194, 215

Bells, 106, 150, 194

Bema, 18, 37, 62, 63, 65, 67, 78, 94;
view of, 69 ; restored, 124 ; walls
of, 171, 242; see also Thusias-
terion

Benjamin of Tudela, 83, 113, 178
Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, 92, 1 10,
125, 193

Bethlehem, church of, 83, 182, 240 ;

built by Justinian, 17
Bin Bir Direk, cistern, 248
Bishop's throne, 68, 79
Blachernae palace, II, 123
Blessing the water, no, 192
Bondelmontius, 125, 175, 177, 179,

186, 193

Bosporus, stone of, 46, 56, 79, 237
Bosra, 90, 204

Boucoleon palace, 99

Bricks, 155, 161,199,224,226,234;

size of, 155; inscriptions on, 136,

156, 207

Bronze, 172, 180, 189, 264, 272;
hooks, 86, 109, 264, 273 ; panels,
168, 170, 265 ; rings, 56, 60, 164,
259; horses at Venice, 193

Bruin Code (1700), 196

Bury, 7, 12, 200

Buttress, 150, 157, 210, 216, 219,226
Buzantios, 7, 183, 264
Byeljayev, 8, 177

Camerarum rotator, 206, 207

Candelabra, 60, 74, 80, 103, 119

Candles on ciborium, 48, 72

Cantacuzenus (1341), 62, 65, 124

Canterbury, 19

Cantharus, 84, 189

Capitals, 37, 43, 46, 55, 137, 164,

188, 218 ; distribution of, 255;

types, 250, 254
Carpets, 81, 90, 102, 183
Carystus, marble of, 45, 237
Cassiodorus, 206
Catechumena, 65, 90, 94, 135
Cedrenus (nth c), 13, 14, 16, 99,

157, 180, 210
Cells of clergy, 140, 186, 217
Celtic marble, 45, 237
Cements, 231, 289
Ceremonies, book of (10th c), 7,

20, 60, 92, 95, 123, 173, 181,

186, 219
Chainage, 228

Chains (lamp), 16, 49, 50, 51, in;

S. Peter's, 68, 183
Chalkd Gate, 95, 174, 2 8
Chalices, 90, 104, no, 1 1, 140
Chalkis, 257

Chambers at East-End, 153, 216
Chapels, 68, 105, 154, 155, 184
Cherubic Hymn, 63, 92
Cherubim in mosaic, 278, 287
Choir; see Solea

INDEX

301

Choisy, 128, 199, 200, 207, 210,

214, 222, 224, 226
Chosroes, 32, 90, 97
Chrysopolis, 5

Chrysostom (4th c), 16, 18, 44, 85,

109, 1 16, 144
Chrysotriclinium, 174
Ciborium, 29, 47, 68, 72, 167
Cipollino, 263; rosy, 241, 242
Cisterns of Constantinople, 83, 224,

226, 248, 257; of S. Sophia, 19,

106, 155, 196
Clamps, 247

Clavijo, 61, 83, 125, 175, 177, I79>

184, 186, 188
Clemente S., church at Rome,

209, 254, 257
Clergy, 91, 140
Cloister on south side, 219
Codinus (15th c), 14, 21, 63, 65,

79, 128, 180, 183
Columns, 55, 56, 60, 69, 109, 137,

138, 163, 165, 234, 236 ; of S.

Basil, 102, 1 3 1 ; of S. Gregory,

102, 1 3 1 ; of Hippodrome, 172
Colymbethra, 189
Conchs, 22, 37, 150, 168, 180
Constantine, 4, 6, 10, 14, 15, 99,

101, 103, 105, 129, 179, 180, 193,

198, 203; cross of, 95, 96 ; Forum

of, 3, 5, 6> 9. I2> H> }79, l8z>
193; VII. Porphyrogenitus (912),
178; VIII. (1025), 89; XI. (1059),
in mosaic, 287

Constantius (337), 1 5

Coptic linen, 88

Cornices, 150, 163, 260, 261 ; of
dome, 41, 150, 159, 163, 166

Corona of lights, 50, 51, III, 115,
119

Corippus, 145
Corporations, 1 1, 208
Corsi, 236, 238, 239
Covel, 118, 121, 128, 191,232,288,
290

Cross, the true, 14, 92, 93, 94, 96,
98, 105, 109; adoration of, 92;
exaltation of, 94, 98; of light,
116, 117; votive, 82

Crowns, 63, 64, 72, 73, 103, 140
Crusaders, 6, 161, 70, 87, 100, 124,

H3
Crustae, 241

Crux Mensuralis, 102, 139
Curtains, 33, 48, 49, 95, 103
Curtis, 83, 85, 186
Curve of inflection, 223

Damascening, 67
Dara, 205

Deacons, 63, 64, 65, 91
Deaconesses, 18, 91
Delphi, serpents from, 4, 177
Demetrius, S., church of Salonica,
72, 121, 189, 202, 203, 214,

215, 257
Deputatus, 64, 91

Dethier, 273
De Vogue, 90, 180
Diakonikon, 102
Didaskalion, 94, 188
Didron, 98
Diehl, 285

Diocletian, edict of, 206

Dion Cassius, 10

Dion Chrysostom, 181

Dionysius, 13

Discs (lamp), 50, HI, 113

Division of labour, 207

Dokimion, 238

Dome, 201, 220, 226 ; of S. Sophia,
26, 29, 35, 42, 123, 142, 150,

J57> I59> l69> 2°9> 2IO> 2I9J
mosaics in, 274, 278, 286

Domninus, porticoes of, 182

Doors of church, 40, 57, 58, 138,

143, 147, 168, 193, 216, 267;

Holy, 79, 94, 96
Doorkeepers, 91
Door veils, 88

Drill, use of, in carving, 263

Du Cange, 7, 34, 44, 53, 180,

186, 190 ; editions of, 66, 67 ;

plan by, 78
Dueas (15th c.)» 126

302 irs
E

Earthquakes, 21, 22, 122, 212, 228,
265

Eastern chapels, 78
Egypt, 4, 177, 200, 226, 228
Elektron, 70, 138, 272
Embolos of Milion, 180, 182
Enamel, 68, 70, 272
Encaenia, 15, 21, 34, 36, 141
Endute, 71, 140

Ephesus, 32, 130, 191, 202; build-
ing centre, 98; John of (6th c),
98

Equestrian statues, 149, 193

Escomboli, 125

Etoimasia, 286

Euchologium, 62, 92, 194

Eudoxia, 16 ; statue of, 12, 13, 179

Eudoxius, 15

Eugenius, gate of, 10

Eusebius (4th c), 14, 74, 190

Eutychius, 29, 132, 1,41

Exedras, of S. Sophia, 22, 25, 36,

151, 164, 168, 219, 234, 259;

at S. Sergius, 205
Exonarthex, 122, 148, 150, 162,

185, 188, 193, 215 _
Exterior of S. Sophia, 215, 219;

cased with marble, 197
Evagrius (6th c), 29, 32> 33
Ezra, 204, 228

Fabri, Felix, 83, 246
Fall of city, 125, 126, 147, 175,
179

Fanio, portico of, 12

Figure scheme in mosaics, 280, 283

Fillet, notched, 170, 260, 292

Flabella, 91, 104, 285

Fonts, 19, 20, 81

Fortunatus, 81

Forum of Constantine, 3, 5, 6, 9,
12, 13, 14, 179, 182, 193 ; Tauri,
178

Fossati, 84, 120, 148, 179, 185, 287

Foundations, 132
Fountains, 177, 185, 188

Galata, 5,11
Galla Placidia, 74, 282
Galleries to S. Sophia, 212, 217
Gammidae, 71, 88, 267
Ganosis, 246
Garconostasion, 188
Garofalo, 236

Germanus (8th c), patriarch, 85, 100
Giallo antico, 172, 239
Gilding, 272

Glass, 46, 169, 290; enamels, 272 ;

mosaic, 172, 273
Glycas (12th c), 21, 79, 123, 129,

Goar (17th c), 69, 92, 122, 192, 194
Gold, 33, 46, 48, 49, 60, 70, 199, 293
Golden Gate, 135; Horn, 1, 5, 6, 10,
11, 90

Gregory, S., of Armenia, 276; S., of
Nazianzene, 209; S., of Nyssa, 206,
207 ; Thaumaturgus, 83, 102, 106,
131, 276, 287

Grelot, 66, 78, 84, 120, 127, 185,
188, 190, 193, 215, 285, 291

Gruter, 84, 190

Gyllius, 12, 66, 127, 146, 175, 177,

179, 185, 193, 195, 248
Gynaeceum, 27, 44, 65, 87, 91,

131, 140, 147, 161, 164, 242;

accesses to, 152, 154, 157; domes,

222 ; doors, 2 10; pavement, 172,

215 ; windows, 168, 171
Gypsoplastes, 206
Gypsum, use of, 226

• H

Habakkuk in mosaic, 277

Haifa sand, 241

Hangings, 86

Helena, 14, 97, 99

Hemicycle, 19, 22, 67, 205, 219

INDEX

303

Hemisphere, 30, 32,41, 123
Heraclius (610), 91, 97
Hierapolis marble, 55, 57, 60, 238
Hippodrome, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13,

17, ill, 174, 175, 186, 193
Holy table, 29, 48, 63, 68, 70, 96,

138 ; see also Altar ; well, 78, 91,

95, 105, 130, 139; wood, 94, 97,

105

Hormisdas, palace of, 174, 257
Horologium, 20, 95, 132, 141, 182
Hypurgi of narthex, 91

Iassian marble, 44, 45, 238
Iconoclasts, 280

Iconostasis, 46, 51, 60, 68, 74, 126,

172 ; lamps on, in, 118
Icons, 71, 85, 105, 129
Idatius (5th c), 1 S
Jerash, 201

Jeremiah in mosaic, 277
Jerusalem, 14, 84, 97, 104, 256
Ignatius, 88, 108, 133, 140, 177, 287
Images, Restoration of, 85, 122
Indiction, 21, 269
Inscriptions, 90, 190, 205, 264
Instructor parietum, 206
Instruments of Passion, 96, 97, 109
John Studius, S., church of, 120, 21 8,
257

Jonah in mosaic, 277

Joshua, trumpets of, 105, 139

Irene, S., 12, 129, 264; Empress, 287

Iron ties, 161, 162, 230

Isaiah in mosaic, 276

Isauria, church in, 201, 202

Isaurian workmen, 29, 207

Isidorus, the elder, 24, 26, 28; the
younger, 30, 43, 204, 206

Justinian I. (527), 14, 20, 24, 29, 34,
61, 70, 88, 90, 104, 119, 154, 167,
190, 198; figure of in mosaic,
287; equestrian statue, 180

Justinian II. (685), 174

Justin II. (565), 61, 97, 142, 174

Ivory inlaid, 55, 60

Kamara, 99, 136, 180
Kathisma, 175, 1 77, 1 93
Klerikos of S. Sophia, 91
Kouppas, 228
Kraus, 17

Krumbacher, 22, 30, 32
Kuklios, Kuklis, 68, 90, 138

Labarte, 7, 9, 10, 12, 68, 128, 173?

177, 180, 217
Lamplighter, 74, 261
Lamps, in, 144, 250
Laotomos, 55, 133, 206
Laotoros, 45, 59, 206
Lateran, lighting at, 113
Lattaquieh, milion at, 180
Lattices, window, 154, 168, 197,

261, 290
Lazarus, the painter, 107
Lead, 27, 41, 150, 259
Leo, Pope, 72, 115
Leo III. (717), Emperor Edict of,

280

Leo VI. (886), Emperor, 73, 103

Leo the Deacon (10th c), 123

Lighting, 49, 52, no

Lithologos, 25, 206

Lithoxooi, 133, 206

Loggia of Baptistery, 217, 252, 258

Louter, 132, 138, 182, 189, 192

Lukium cement, 232

Luke, S., monastery of, 99, 145.

284, 285
Lybian marble, 45, 239
Lydian marble, 45, 239
Lydus, John (6th c), 3, 6, 42, 208

Macron, 181, 182
Magistros, 129, 206
Mahomet II., 126, 127, 152
Maistor, 136, 206, 208
Manaura, palace of, 94

INDEX

Mandeville, 84, 146

Manual Byzantine, 182, 284

Manuel (1 143), 181

Marbles, 45, 170, 235; export of,

240; application of, 241, 260
Marcellinus Comes (6th c), 21
Marina, House of, 11, 14, 174, 175
Mark, S., church of, at Alexandria,
256; at Venice, 82, 108, 109, 193,
197, 256, monograms, 294
Marmora, 84
Mass, 62, 92, 106

Mechanikos, 29, 132, 133, 136, 206

Mechanopoios, 24, 28, 206

Megale Eisodos, 62, 63

Mekkah Sand, 240

Menas, patriarch, 21

Menologium, 61, 68, 98, 108, 119,

183 ; date, 71
Mese, 5, 6, 12, 13, 180, 182, 186
Mesomphalos, 79

Metatorion, 77, 78, 96, 131, 141, 182
Methodius, 287

Michael III. (842), m, 122, 123,
269

Miletus, 24, 204

Milion, 6, 10, 11, 70, 99, 180, 181,
182

Minarets, 127, 151, 152, 215
Molossus, marble of, 43, 59, 238
Monograms at S. Sophia, 47, 60, 164,

169, 170, 174, 251, 268, 272, 295 ;

at Ravenna, 292 ; at Venice, 294
Mordtmann, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 175
Mortar, 156, 231, 235
Mosaics, 42, 46, 69, 199, 206, 282;

figures, 273, 287; first scheme,

279 ; at S. Luke's, 99 ; at S. Mark's,

82; at Ravenna, 71, 86
Mouldings, 242, 260
Murad III., 152
Murano, 84, 85
Mygdonian marble, 56, 239

Naos, 32, 67, 79, 132

Narthex, 40, 44, 106, 140, 150, 182,

216, 225; vaults, 137, 222, 226;

frieze, 241 ; mosaics, 274, 287 ;

propylaeum, 92, 95, 162, 188
Nectarius, 16, 129
Neorion Port, 56
New church of Brazil, 90, 284
New Rome, 4, 36, 46
Nicaea, 181, 285

Nicetas (13th c), 70, 150, 177, 181
Nicephorus Callistus (14th c), 14
Nicephorus Gregoras (14th c), 86,
124, 152

Nicholas, 102, 110, 183; of Myra,

276 ; Thingeyrensis, 99
Niketes, 272

Nola, church at, 113, 119, 190, 267,
291

Notida, 2, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 174,
208

Novgorod, Anthony of, 83, 92, 100,
183; Stephen of, 84, 113, 185;
Chronicle (13th c.)» 68, 75

Nuremberg Chronicle (15th c), 175

Octagon Church, 203 ; Baptistery,

186, 220
Officers of church, 91
Oikodomoi, 133, 200
Oil in cements, 136, 232, 233
Omphalos omphalion, 89, 96
Onyx, 239, 241

Opus sectile, 45, 162, 171, 220, 225,

242, 246
Orientation, 17
Organic architecture, 247
Original form of church, 209
Oriental alabaster, 170, 171, 239,

242
Ostiarii, 91

Pachymeres (13th c), 71, 85
Palace, 7, 13, 132, 173, 174, 175 ;
of Blachernae, 11, 123 ; of Hor-

INDEX

misdas, 174, 175 ; of Marina, II,
14, 174 ; of Patriarch, 13, 14, 107,
179, 186 ; of Placidia, 174, 175

Pala d'Oro, 71, 109

Palaeologus, 61 ; Andronicus II.
(1328), 124, 152 ; John I. (1356),
124, 278, 287; John II. (1425),
71, 190; Michael (1261), 10, 71,

124, 190

Palladius (4th c), 16, 18, 144
Palmyra, 6, 181, 201
Panels, marble, 68, 171, 241
Pantocrator, mosaic, 287
Parenzo, 209, 219, 246, 256, 257
Paschal Chronicle (7th c), 3, 13, 15,
1 74

Paspates, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 79, 81, 84,

90, 100, 173, 176, 179, 186
Passion, instruments of, 96, 99, 100
Patriarch, 4, 62, 91, 95, 96, 104, 107,

125, 137, 144, 181
Patriarchs' tombs, 85

Paul, S., figure of, 49, 109, 118, 123,
275

Paul the Deacon (8th c), 41

Paulus Maurocenus, 108

Paulus Silentiarius (6th c), 20, 33,

67, 70, 79, 128, 159, 160, 204,

206

Paulinus (5th C.), 113, 119, 190,

267
Pausanias, 2

Pavement of nave, 79, 80, 137, 138,
142, 172; of atrium, 141, 191 ;
cloisters, 125 ; gynaeceum, 81 ;
Basil's church, 68 ; Augusteum,
186

Pavonazzetto, 170
Pendentives, 26, 41, 201, 209
Peperino, 155

Peter, S., figure of, 49, 118, 123,
275 ; chains of, 68, 102, 1 83 ;
chapel of, 68, 78, 102, 130, 183,
184 ; church of, at Rome, 72, 74,
116, 189, 192

Pharos, 116, 117

Phengites, 262

Phiale, 44, 141, 189, 190, 191
Philoxenus, cisterns of, 248

Phrygian marble, 45, 56, 59, 237
Piers, 22, 25*, 28, 29, 41,79, I33> J57>

159; of stone, 155, 234 ; of west

front, 193
Plane of least labour, 261
Polishing marble, 246
Pointed arches, 220
Polycandela, ill, 112, 114, 115,

140

Porches, 69, 70, 91, 123, 151, 183,

190, 215, 288 ; south, 185 ; doors

of, 268, 270
Porphyry, 37, 134, 236
Porticoes of Domninus, 182 ; of

mese, 6 ; of milion, 182 ; of

Severus, 6
Porto-Venere marble, 171, 239
Pozzolana, 291
Praepositus, 94, 95
Priests, 47, 67, 91, 107, 140, 144
Proaulion, 1 37, 1 79
Procession to the church, 95
Proconnesus, marble of, 4, 44, 46,

79, 80, 81, 156, 163, 164, 166,

172, 209, 237, 242, 243, 256
Procopius, (6th c), 21, 22, 68, 159,

174, 180, 189, 197, 206, 214
Pronaos, 67, 181, 184
Prothesis, 63, 64, 75, 77
Protomaistor, 145, 207
Protooikodomos, 136, 206
Protopapas, 91, 93
Protospatharios, 91
Protopsaltae, 63, 79, 92
Psellus (1 ith c), 145
Pulcheria, 12, 16

Purgos of ciborium, 47 ; of ambo,
54

Quadriporticus, 215
R.

Ramazan illuminations, 121
Ravenna, 17, 71, 80, 88, 183, 209,
246

306

INDEX

Readers, 160

Receptions on way from Palace, 95
Refendarius, 64, 91
Relics, 16, 97, 100, 106, 137, 139
Resin fixes marble to walls, 172
Restoration of image worship, 122 ;

of S. Sophia, 22, 29, 123, 210,

212

Rhodes, bricks from, 136, 142, 156

Riant, 19, 100, 108

Ribs of dome, 159, 275

Robert de Clari (13th c), 6 1, 70,

72, "3, H5
Rohault de Fleury, 17, 61, 67, 74,

113, 116
Roman system of building, 199
Romanus Argyrus, (1028), 123, 295
Rome, 2, 17, 123, 200, 209
Rosso antico, 171, 242
Round N.E. building, 78, 154, 217
Royal Door, 67, 150, 151, 181, 204;

slabs over, 242
Russian Pilgrim, 65, 143, 145

Sacellarius, 91

Sacristy, 78, 154, 184; see Skeuo-

phylakium
Salonica, see under Demetrius, also

Sophia

Salzenberg, 19, 20, 34, 42, 67, 78,
149—172, 203, 210, 213, 216,
219, 273

Sanctuary, 28, 68, 78, 101, 102,
105, 107, 109 ; smaller, 77, 101 ;
right of in S. Sophia, 189

Scaffolding, 123, 142, 226

Schlumberger, 91

Screen to solea, 79 ; in South

Gallery, 90, 262
Sculptor Marmorum, 206
Scylitzes (nth c), 123
Secondary order of columns, 213,

214, 219, 230
Selim II., 127

Semidomes, 22, 24, 40, 150, 209,
219, 226

Senate, 6, 11, 12, 179

Sepulchre Holy, slab of, at S.
Sophia, 1 01, 105; Church of, at
Jerusalem, 41, 74, 83, 84

Seraglio, 10, 1S0, 184; Point, 1, 2,

5'.6

Sergius S., church of, at Bosra, 204 ;
Church of, at Constantinople, 83,
166, 174, 204, 205, 218, 256, 257,
295, 296

Serpentine, 171, 172

Services in S. Sophia, 92, 126

Severus, 1, 3, 6 ; porticoes of, 5, 6

Shop production, 208, 256

Silver, 28, 33, 37, 40,46, 47, 54,
56, 60, 70, 74, 75 ; in pavement,
68 ; in mosaic, 273 ; in mono-
grams, 268

Simeon of Thessalonica, 67, 192

Sinai, Mt., 83, 119

Singers, 60, 91, 140

Skeuophylax, 91, 95, 297

Skeuophylakium, 78, 91, 127, 130,
139, 154, 183

Skirtings, 241, 260

Socrates (5th c), 13, 14, 15, 17, 18,
116

Solea, 63, 64, 67, 96, 139, 140, 142
Solomon, 71, 100, no, 126, 141,
144, 190

Sophia S., church of, at Salonica,

202, 203, 214, 257
Sozomenus (5th c), 16
Spandrils of arcades, 45, 163, 166,

170, 242, 260, 293
Spartan marble, 65, 239
Sphendone, 175
Spina, 175, 177

Stairways, 94, 123, 162, 210, 216
Stalls, 37, 40, 66, 137, 172
Strategion, 3, 4
Stucco, 291
Subdeacons, 91, 104
Suidas (10th c), 70, 146
Sundial, 178, 182
Sunergasia, 208

Synnadan marble, 60, 82, 171, 238,
243.

Syria, influence of, 201, 204

INDEX

3°7

Technitai, 24, 206
Tektonikos, 133, 206
Temples at Byzantium, 1 — 4
Tesserae, 45, 274, 288
Texier, 10, 149, 193, 203, 283
Theodora, wife of Justinian, 70, 86,

88, 294 ; wife of Theophilus,

122, 269
Theodoric, 86, 8*8, 257
Theodosius I. (379), 16, 129, 177,

180 ; Code of, 206
Theodosius II. (408), 6, 16
Theophanes (9th c), 14, 20, 29, 72,

100, 207, 209 ; Continuator

(10th c), 71, 87, 90
Theophilus, Emperor (829), 175,

269 ; writer, 272, 290
Thessaly, marble of, 32, 37, 40, 44,

58, 59, 130, 164, 236
Thomaites, 65, 181, 186
Throne, 62, 105 ; of bishop, 68 ; in

mosaic, 277, 279
Thusiasterion, 18, 28, 67, 130, 132,

136

Tiberius (578), 174

Titanos, 27, 232

Tombs in S. Sophia, 102

Tralles, 24, 204

Transparent slabs, 262

Trees of light, 51, 57, 118, 119

Tribunal with porphyry steps, 1 1

Triconcha, 175

Turks capture city, 126, 127, 147
Turrets at west end, 163

Ultramarine, 60, 291
Undercutting in carving, 254
Unger, 8, 78
Urns, marble, 84

Varangi, 64

Vaults, 69, 150, 160, 161, 199, 200
207, 219 ; mosaic on, 274

Vela, 65, 86, 87

Venice, 71, 72, 99, 175, 193

Verde antique, 67, 81, 82, 164, 165,
166, 167, 170, 172, 242, 260,
261

Veronica, 286

Villehardouin, 107

Virgin, figure of, 83, 109, 123, 27^

278, 284
Vitale, S., at Ravenna, 88, 227
Von Hammer, 145, 152

Walls of church, 155, 157, marble

casings, 285
Wax, encaustic, 246
Well, Holy, 78, 91, 95, 105, 130,

139

West front, 192

Windows, 42, 43, 158, 168, 209,
261

Wood, Holy, 94, 95, 97, 105
Wood tie beams, 161, 162, 168, 227,
228, 230

Zeno, building laws of, 6
Zenobia, city of, 206
Zeuxippus, baths of, 3, 4, 11, 179
Zonaras (nth c), 29, 160, 179,
209

Zosimus (5th c), 4, 5

THE END.

Richard Clay and Sons, Limited,
london and bungay.

GETTY CENTER LIBRARY

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